Snape's Future
by Natasha Vloyski
Summary: For Snape lovers... the past catches up with the present for Snape and he ends up reluctantly helping Harry battle two foes.
1. Chapter 1

Snape's Future

Harry stood behind a curtain, holding his breath and pleading with the gods to not let him be discovered. He listened as they spoke to one another and wished he could also plug his ears and not hear another word.

Snape was ten feet away facing another person in the room. The three were in Snape's private study. The other person was not immediately visible until she stepped forward.

It was the eve of the first day of school back at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Dumbledore had introduced the new teacher as Miss Georgia Mason. She was to teach Muggle Studies since the last teacher had gone missing.

Now she stood in front of Severus Snape and spoke to him. "I didn't know you were teaching here, Severus. It was a position that paid well and I needed the money."

Harry could see the expression on Snape's face. It was a mixture of worry, sorrow, and…. he couldn't quite believe it… one of longing.

She continued, "It was you who left me eleven years ago, Severus. You gave up the fight and you left. How long did I comfort you when you suffered, how long did I stay even when I felt alone and yet, I didn't leave you. My memories of you lingered for years and wouldn't leave me alone. I felt as if your presence was haunting me. I never gave up wanting to see you again, but gradually I began to accept it. Eventually, Daniel began to fill up my life."

"Daniel…." Snape said, softly. "He is eleven years old."

Harry knew what he was saying without putting it into words. The son of this woman had been sorted into Gryffindor House that very evening. There was no mistaking the resemblance to Snape. Although the boy had the same haunted look in his eyes he was able to smile, he already made friends with several of the first year boys and, to Harry, he looked 'normal' if there was such a thing that could be said of Snape's offspring.

Earlier in the evening, Harry watched in fascination as the first years were sorted. His eyes moved back and forth between Snape and the boy, making the comparison.

"Blimey, Harry," Ron leaned in to whisper in his ear. "That kid looks a lot like Snape. Think they are related?"

Harry knew they were related. But how? Still, there was more on his mind than the relationship between a first year and his teacher and he wasn't concerned so much about this coincidence as he was about getting into Snape's private chambers later that night.

Dumbledore had already summoned him and he knew it was likely they would be on the hunt once again for another of the Horcruxes. So he would have very little time. First, he had to prove to himself that Snape was trustworthy. This time it had to be beyond a shadow of a doubt and he had no guarantee he would find the proof in Snape's quarters.

Now he stood, trapped behind a curtain, in Snape's apartments and Dumbledore would most certainly be growing impatient. Harry didn't want to lose the opportunity to go with him on this quest. He knew it was important. Hadn't he struggled to learn of the Horcruxes, to learn of the existence of seven of them! To miss out on the opportunity would be terrible and yet, he couldn't expose himself now.

He was stuck, listening and watching, bearing witness to the pain in this coincidental reunion.

The woman stepped into his line of sight. She was not beautiful, that would not describe her, but she was not plain either. She had long brown hair cascading in curls around her face and over her shoulders. She had green eyes and fine features, a narrow nose, soft lips. Looking at her now, her face strained with concern and worry, her cheeks flushed with a rosy blush; she looked very attractive to Harry's eye.

He noted the mildly out-of-fashion, long dress of red velvet showing off a narrow waist and ample bosom. She stood looking at Snape, one hand twisted in her skirt and the other holding her arm across her torso as if to ward off a blow.

"Yes, Severus," she replied in answer to his remark. "Daniel is your son."

Snape caught his breath and leaned into a chair nearby, supporting himself as if in shock. A minute went by. "Does he know?" he asked.

She shook her head. "No. But after tonight there will be questions. Years ago I began to notice the resemblance to you. As he grew older it grew even clearer, but I haven't seen you for years and memories do fade over time. I couldn't be sure. I thought…" she hesitated and then said, "I thought it was wishful thinking on my part. As you can see for yourself, it is now obvious and there will be other's who have questions as well, Dumbledore for one."

Minutes passed in insufferable silence as they stared at one another. _Say something Snape,_ Harry thought to himself. _She is waiting for you to say something._

"Georgia…" Snape stood straight once again and took a step forward. "You must take Daniel and leave Hogwarts."

Harry was aware Snape was pleading more than a demanding and Harry knew why. Snape was in danger as much as he himself was. Having the woman and his son at Hogwarts where the news would travel very quickly to Voldemort's ears, was a disaster waiting to happen. If Snape was not already in the Dark Lord's service, he soon would be. What better than to have a hostage or two to urge his servant on.

However, even Harry knew Snape had made a mistake. He shouldn't have told her right off she needed to leave. It was obvious their relationship was in question; it was a shock to both of them to meet so unexpectedly after parting so painfully. Harry closed his eyes and sent his thoughts Snape's way: _Tell her you cared, tell her you are astonished but pleased about Daniel. Do something!_

"Severus," she stood and spoke firmly, "you left us with nothing. I struggled for years to provide for myself and your son. I never sought you out, I never inquired about you. I never asked you for anything. Now I have found a means to make our lives more comfortable and you want me to leave it behind."

She approached him, they were feet apart and she had to tilt her head to look up at him. "How can you ask this of me? Daniel will know who you are even if I don't tell him and he wants to be here more than you can ever know. He hasn't had much in his life and when he got his letter to Hogwarts he was happy for the first time in years. Would you take this away from him? Would you ask me to? I know you don't care about me but please try to have some feeling for our child."

Snape was shaking his head, as if not truly hearing her words. "That's not it, Georgia. It's not safe here. You would both be in grave danger. I would put you in danger."

"This is not about you, Severus!" she exclaimed, for the first time looking angry.

"Georgia," he stepped forward, raised his arms as if to embrace her and she shrugged back.

"No, Severus."

"Georgia you have heard of the Dark Lord," Snape murmured, remaining very close to her. "His focus is on the school, on a boy who is a student here- Harry Potter- you know of him."

Her eyes drifted past him momentarily, unfocused as she tried to recall the name and then there was recognition. "Potter. You knew a Lilly Potter didn't you, Severus?" She turned away suddenly her long skirt swishing in her path. "I remember, Severus. How could I forget. I was there for you physically, emotionally, loving you, caring for you, but your heart and mind were with her. Always with her."

Harry's heart sped up and he gripped the wand that was in his hand. _Why? Why does my mother's name always come up? _he thought as he watched. _What is this woman saying about her? About her and Snape?_

She turned back to him. "Where is she now, Severus? Are you with her?"

Snape shook his head, looking ever more wounded. "No! No, Georgia. The Dark Lord killed her and marked her son. He is the Chosen One. Do you know what that means?"

She frowned. "Severus we have lived as muggles for many years and left the wizarding world. I put aside the intrigue and mysteries you've involved yourself in when we were together. However, I do know who Harry Potter is. It's all over the Daily Prophet. What I'm asking is what is he to you? How are you involved in this?"

Snape stared at her and Harry knew he was trying to decide just how much he was willing to tell her. Harry held his breath in anticipation.

"I promised his mother I would protect him," he finally said. "We were friends Georgia. Lily was married, but we had been friends since we were children and I was partly responsible for her death. I could do no less than make sure her son was not harmed."

The woman once again crossed the room. This time she studied him. "What does it mean, the Chosen One?"

"He is marked to kill the Dark Lord," Snape answered simply. "This wizard, who stalks him, the one who wants to take over the world, is the most dangerous man you will ever meet. He has many followers, an army of wizards almost as dangerous as he. And I am counted among them, although I play two roles. I am a faithful and loyal friend only to Albus Dumbledore."

"You….," she began. "You are one of Voldemort's followers?"

"Georgia!" he grasped her arms. "Don't say his name! He… feels it when someone uses it." He stopped to take a deep breath. "I can't tell you what has transpired in eleven years in a matter of minutes. Suffice it to say that I work for Dumbledore and him alone although I put on a different face for the rest of the world. The Potter boy must be protected, he is the salvation of us all, though I don't know how it is to be done. But don't you see? The Dark Lord will ensure my loyalty through you and Daniel. Now is the most dangerous time of all."

She pulled away. "It sounds like you have the Potter boy to look after. I will make the decisions I think best for Daniel, Severus."

Harry shook his head slightly. The woman didn't seem to grasp what Snape was saying and Snape was slow in comprehending what she wanted; which was some reaction on his part that he was a father to their son.

Snape shook his head in the same frustration Harry was feeling. "I have money enough, a vault full of money at Gringott's. I will give it all to you. You and Daniel will not have to struggle anymore. Just let me take you someplace safe."

"Are you saying you would go with us; to be together?" She studied him, some slight hope written on her face.

He was shaking his head before she finished speaking. "It can't be, I can't go with you. I must stay here and finish this work."

She glared at him. "I don't want your money, Severus."

"Georgia! I don't have a future! Don't you understand?" Snape was growling. "I will never have the chance to know my son, or for him to know me. And perhaps it's best because I probably will not survive this coming war. Would you have him know me and then watch me die? Would you put him in danger?"

She stood motionless. She appeared shocked, alarmed and searched his face as if seeking the truth to his words.

"My greatest fear is the Dark Lord will learn of you and Daniel." Snape's face twisted in agony. "Now that I have found you again and learned of my son, I would give my life to save you." He approached her once again, slowly. "I have always loved you. You have all of me, and there has been no other."

She dropped her head to look at the floor. "I don't know if that's true and perhaps it's not important now. Would you tell me,…" she looked up into his face, "why you left me?"

"Georgie," Snape's voice was soft and full of emotion. "I left you to protect you from Him… and from me. How could I stay? I had no idea what I was doing. If I had known you carried Daniel I would have stayed and taken you away." His voice was soft. "Yes, I would have wanted a son. Perhaps at the time it would have made all the difference in the world."

"I didn't know I was pregnant, Severus," she said so softly Harry barely caught the words. "The night you left, I returned home with the news. I waited for a very long time hoping you would contact me."

He touched her arms with his fingertips and leaned in over her head as if to inhale the essence of her. It was more intimate then if he had embraced her.

"I have made a mess of things as always. But I know one thing and that is you cannot stay here."

She nodded and leaned into him resting her head against him. They stayed together for a long time before parting. It was obvious they cared about one another.

"Daniel. What is he like?" Snape asked.

"He is like you when you were young; sweet and kind, but not sad. He is intelligent, thoughtful and curious. He has a strong heart, courageous and brave, but he is also very gentle and loving. Once upon a time you were like that." She held a hand against his chest. "You don't have to tell me a lie, Severus. I know you loved Lily Potter. A woman knows." She stepped back away from him and walked to the door. "Time doesn't heal those kinds of wounds, Severus. I knew back then that I shared your affections with someone else. I just didn't know who it was."

"Will you leave, Georgia?" he asked, looking defeated.

She held the door knob and leaned into the door, waiting.

"Georgia, I did return. I never stopped searching for you." Snape remained where he was. "I went back to find you and you were gone. What can I say to prove to you that I am sincere?"

She opened the door and turned to him before leaving, "There is nothing, Severus. As always this business of yours must come first. However, I will consider leaving but I'd like you to talk to Daniel first. Will you do that?"

He nodded, dropping his hands in defeat.

She left, closing the door quietly.

Snape had barely held himself together throughout the conversation and as she shut the door he collapsed into a chair holding his head in his hands. Harry could hear a moan but could no longer see him. His desire to get out of the room and away from this pain was almost unbearable. Letting Snape know he was in the room now would be unbearable. He tried as hard as he could to look away and think of something else out of fear the man would sense his presence_._


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

A knock came to the door and Albus Dumbledore announced himself before Snape could react. "Severus, it's me. Can we talk?"

Snape looked up. "It's not a good time, Headmaster."

"Severus, whenever you are trying to deal with something on your own you call me Headmaster. Let me in and let's talk." Dumbledore's voice was gentle and encouraging.

Snape shrugged as if to say there was no getting around opening the door for the old man and he rose hesitantly, trying to steady himself. He opened the door and turned away without looking directly into Dumbledore's face.

"Would you like a drink, Dumbledore?" Snape asked walking towards a cupboard and picking up a bottle with a glass.

"Severus, talk to me," Dumbledore said and walked over and took the one glass from his hand, poured an amber liquid into it and handed it back. He then set the bottle down. "It's quite apparent to everyone that Daniel is related to you. My guess is, he is your son. And the woman, Georgia…."

"We were never married, and yes, Daniel is my son." Snape confirmed and then emptied the glass.

"That's wonderful!" Albus said, smiling brightly.

"Is it?" Snape asked, surprised. "How so? You, more than anyone, should know that having them here is dangerous; absolutely impossible. And I. Well I'm hardly in a position to be a father to the boy. Look at where we stand, Albus. What about our mission? It has become your mantra all these many years; protect Potter, find a way to kill the Dark Lord… and so on, and so on." He waved his hand in the air dismissively.

Dumbledore huffed out a laugh. He raised his wounded hand, "I'm not dead yet, Severus. You said I had a few more months until the poison incapacitated me. I think I can watch over Harry for that long. I have a task I must complete and I intend to do it to make you both safer. I am trying to make it possible to rid ourselves of Voldemort forever. Right now, I will take Harry with me tonight and you can concern yourself with….other matters." Dumbledore nodded towards the door. His action clearly implied Snape should deal with the woman and boy.

Snape studied him as if he didn't know the man in front of him. "Have you lost your sanity, Albus?"

Dumbledore erupted into laughter. "Not as yet I don't think. Maybe I've got a missing feather or two but otherwise….I think I can still fly." He grew serious. "Make it count, Severus. Go meet your son, talk to him. Get to know him, share something with him of yourself."

"The Dark Lord will hear of this before the night is out," Snape said.

Dumbledore nodded. "Yes, he will. But they are here inside the walls of Hogwarts. We can spirit them away if it becomes more dangerous. Now they just need to be cautious."

Snape shook his head. "They need to leave, tonight if possible. He will call to me and I'll have to acknowledge the truth. There is no way around this."

Dumbledore stared at him, picked up the bottle and poured the glass full again. "What are you afraid of?"

Snape held the full glass and stared back unmoving.

"Afraid to let someone touch that heart of yours once again?" Dumbledore asked as he sat the bottle down and began to stroll around the room. His eyes roamed over the bumpy curtain which hid Harry and he moved past to stroll to a window overlooking the lake. "You know I've told you this before and I've said the same thing to Harry. Voldemort is less likely to enter your mind to control you if you have love in your heart. In the last few years you have hardened yourself to any feelinng. It's true we live on a precipice where we threaten to fall to our deaths. However, I would hate to see you die without feeling love once again, even for a short time?"

He turned back. "What do you fear? Voldemort? Hardly. Remember he has much on his mind right now. I'm happy to say we have played a part in that. Severus, I know I'm dying, and I know sooner or later you will have to keep your unbreakable vow and take my life…"

Snape stiffened and opened his mouth. Before he could speak Dumbledore interrupted. "As I have said before, you will be doing me a favor." He waved his unblemished hand at him. "We have been over this and there is no use in arguing about it anymore. You know the time is coming soon. You need to prepare yourself."

"That's even more reason to make them leave, Dumbledore" Snape snapped. "I will be a murderer in everyone's eyes, including that of...my son. I'll be on the run from everyone. Do you think I want that kind of legacy? Besides, once you're…gone… . If I live twenty-four hours it will be a miracle. The Order….His Deatheaters…everyone, will have a wand pointed in my direction."

"Go after that woman then," Albus said loudly. "Go after her and make love to her and then go see your son and tell him what to expect. Give him a chance to make up his own mind about you. He'll have plenty of advice from others as to how he should feel once the deed is done. Let him hold his head up high. He, alone, may know the truth of the thing and no one else, but it may make a difference to him when we are both gone and he stands alone."

Snape glared at him. "Do you think it wise? Why not let him remain innocent of these things."

"I do think it wise. I believe you are not being realistic. I would guess that before he reaches his bed tonight, he will have heard from a dozen or more people how he resembles you. He'll know who you are and he will know of what kind of man you are based on what others think, not on what is true. He will no longer be innocent as you say. Do you want others to make up his mind for him?" Dumbledore took his arm and walked him to the door. "In the meantime, I must find Harry. We have an errand tonight which can't be put off." Dumbledore stood at the door holding it open. It seemed neither was going to make a move.

Snape stood beside Dumbledore and stared into the dark hallway. "I have no idea what to say to either of them."

"You are the bravest man I know,' Dumbledore replied, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You will face this as you always have, with courage. You'll find the words."

They left the room and Harry swallowed and allowed himself to breath. Then the door opened again and he glanced through the peek hole in the curtain; it was Dumblerdore.

"Harry come away quickly, before he changes his mind." Dumbledore looked directly at him and waved for him to show himself. "Hurry.

Harry stepped quickly to the door and they moved into the hallway.

"Professor, you have to understand, I didn't mean to eavesdrop on Professor Snape." Harry murmured as they raced down the hall.

"We have much to do tonight, Harry. Let's discuss this matter another time."

"You've found one of them then," Harry said, referring to a Horcrux. "That's where you're taking me tonight isn't it?"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Harry watched as Snape used the Avada Kedavra curse on Dumbledore. They had returned to Hogsmeade and hurried to the school. Dumbledore was badly hurt and then he faced Draco and the Deatheaters. Snape stepped in and killed him and now they were running and Harry followed.

Snape sent the others ahead and turned back. "I will take care of Potter!" he shouted as they ran into the night. Snape spun around and Harry faced him uncertain about what he should do- try and kill him, or defend him against others on their way."

Snape had his wand out. "Go back. I don't want to kill you."

Harry knew that Snape wasn't aware of his eavesdropping earlier in the evening. "You won't kill me. Come back with me, I'll back you up. I'll tell them a story about Dumblerdore. Any story."

Snape squinted at him through the smoke of Hagrid's burning hut. "I killed him and you saw it happen."

Harry nodded, walking slowly towards the man, his wand held in front of him. "He was dying anyway. Work for me now. There is something you need to know. It's the only way to help me kill Vol…the Dark Lord. DO it for Daniel and his mother!" He glanced back at Hogwarts, hearing the commotion and knowing they had seconds. "Tell me where to meet you."

Snape also was looking at the school, his face twisted in disbelief. "The Shrieking Shack tomorrow, midnight. Bring them with you," he said hastily, "Now, I must do this!" He pointed his wand and fired an unspoken curse at Harry who flew back at least twenty feet, landing on the soft grass and feeling the wind knocked from his lungs.

…

The school was engulfed in grief and sorrow and Harry couldn't help but feel the same. He had lost Dumbledore and knew the reason for it although he wanted desperately to bring him back so that he could have one last word with him. He wanted to be angry with Snape but couldn't find it in himself since he knew the truth.

He wandered through the empty halls early the next morning until he found her apartments. They were actually near an open garden inside the immense inner court of the castle. He'd never been to this part of the castle before, there had been no need and he was always impressed by how little he knew about the place.

He found Daniel sitting on a stone bench, staring up into the sky. He heard weeping inside and new it was Georgia Mason, the boy's mother.

"Hello," he said, sitting down on the bench next to him. Harry couldn't believe how very small the boy appeared. _Was I ever that young_? he thought.

"You're Harry Potter, aren't you," Daniel said.

"Yes."

"You're famous," Daniel said.

Harry smiled a little. "Yes, I suppose I am. That's not important you know."

The boy nodded, dropping his head to look at the grass at his feet. "My father is Professor….is Snape. He killed Professor Dumbledore."

Harry bent and rested his arms on his knees. "Yes, he did. He did it because they were best friends."

The boy looked surprised.

"Sometimes things are not as they appear. Dumbledore was very ill. Deatheaters entered the school last night and it was either let his best friend take his life or one of the Dark Lord's wizards do it. Your father did a very courageous thing. I was there and I saw it. Dumbledore told me himself that he'd rather die by the hand of a friend than that of an enemy."

The boy was frowning. "But people are calling him a murderer."

Harry nodded. "Yes, I know. I'm going to go see your father tonight. Do you want to come?"

Daniel thought for a moment and then nodded.

"Good." Harry rose. "I'm going in to see your mother now. Daniel?"

The boy glanced up.

"You must keep this meeting a secret. You must keep what I told you a secret."

"But if he wasn't a murderer than people should know."

Harry shook his head and placed a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Not yet. Now, you understand you must not tell anyone."

Daniel nodded.

Harry found Georgia Mason in her sitting room. She was dressed in casual clothes and she sat looking out the window at her son.

"May I come in?" He asked, standing at the open door.

She looked up and it was clear she'd been weeping. "Who are you?"

She stood and approached him "Oh yes, you're Harry Potter."

"I am."

"Yes. Come in. I saw you talking to Daniel," she returned to her seat.

"What can I do for you Mr. Potter."

Harry sat and over the next fifteen minutes described what he had seen behind the curtains in Snape's quarters. It took another half hour to tell her the story of the last years of his life; his parent's death, Sirius' death, the rise of Voldemort and Snape's involvement. "He would never tell you himself," Harry said, finally, "but his was a terribly dangerous job. He spied for Dumbledore and kept me safe.

Now everyone thinks he's a murderer and we need to keep them thinking that because the Dark Lord needs to believe Professor Snape is loyal to him. Just for awhile longer. I've told you the prophecy. If it is true then I must find a means to kill the Dark Lord. I don't really know how to go about that yet." He admitted and stared at the tabletop. "But I know that Professor Snape is now the only one who can help me. He is a powerful wizard. He knows more about Voldemort than anyone else."

Dumbledore had said those very words to him the evening before when Harry confronted him about his impending death.

"Harry this is inevitable," he said gently. "I'd rather it be by Severus' hand than another. If it comes sooner than later you must rely on him. He is powerful and he can help you."

"But Professor," Harry argued, "You can tell me what I have to do; teach me how to kill Voldemort."

Dumbledore studied him with kindness and shook his head. "Harry if I knew…if I had the means right now I would do it for you. But you know that we must destroy the Horcruxes first." He raised his blackened hand. "This is a result of my attempt to do that very thing. Want I want is to go tonight, fetch the one I can find and then see what we can do about destroying it later. Harry, he is searching for them," Dumbledore touched his arm as he had done Snape's earlier. "We must find them before he does."

"Won't he know where to look?"

Dumbledore shook his head once again. "He was exiled from his body for eleven years. He lost the diary, he lost the ring. Now he goes to the places that he thought they were hidden. We must go now to find the one I think remains where he left it. Are you ready to do that?"

Harry nodded with hesitation. "Professor perhaps Madam Pomphrey or the Medwizards can find a cure…Professor Snape…maybe he has a potion."

Dumbledore took him by the arm and led him to the astronomy tower. "He has done what he can and no med witch can deal with this kind of black magic. Come if you will. It's time to leave."

And they left. And they returned and he died sooner than Harry expected.

Now he sat with Georgia Mason.

She studied his face, her eyes roving to the scar on his forehead. "I understand," she managed. "I spent years watching him deal with this man Tom Riddle. Then, he was not so formable a wizard. I watched Severus fall deeper and deeper into some kind of chasm that he couldn't escape. I didn't understand, or know, what he was doing."

"He wants you to come with me tonight to see him. Daniel wants to go."

There was a twitch in the muscle of her jaw when she looked at him. "You should have asked me first."

Harry sat immobile, watching her for a long time before he spoke. "I listened last night. I didn't intend to but I know what I heard and what was said. I also know what wasn't said. I know you still care about him and he cares about you. He was on his way to see you just after you left him. Did he? Did he find you?"

She shook her head, studying her hands which twisted a handkerchief.

"Do you know if he saw Daniel?" Harry asked.

"No, I don't know." She stood and wandered to the garden door, watching her son still sitting on the stone bench. "We are leaving this evening. Not because Severus wanted us to necessarily but because I don't want Daniel to suffer the abuse I know will fall on both of us. He shouldn't have to be the son of a murderer. I didn't bring him here for that."

"This may be the only chance the two of you have to see Professor Snape again," Harry said with as much kindness as he could muster. He wished with all his heart that Hermione were with him helping him handle this delicate matter. But at the moment he wanted no one involved in this meeting other than the people Snape asked for and himself.

"I can't," she sighed.

"Daniel is not the son of a murderer, Professor Mason," he stood and walked to the door to stand behind her. Regardless of how he personally felt about Snape, he knew that it was for Daniel's sake that he said the next few words.

"He is a brave, courageous man. More than any other man I know with the exception of Dumbledore. But he's…like me, we don't trust relationships much. I was lucky when I found my friends Ron and Hermione…or I might have turned out differently. I know in my heart that if I asked the same of them that Dumbledore asked of Mr. Snape, they would follow my wishes."

She looked at him, once again tears falling freely.

"He needs your support. He needs one friend to make a difference and he needs it now. He'll do what I ask, not because I ask it of him but because you do. I need his help. You must persuade him to give it." Harry touched her arm. "He and I…well, we have been at odds with one another from the beginning. If you don't come then our task is likely to fail." He moved to leave, "I'll be on the grounds at midnight, near the Whomping Willow tree. Ask anyone, they can tell you where it is."

He left her, walking back through the garden, smiling wanly at Daniel as he walked by.

…

Towards midnight he waited out of the way of dangerous limbs of the Whomping Willow and studied the castle, lit like a Christmas tree. He remembered the night that he was here with Sirius and his sorrow deepened. He knew what Snape must be feeling, probably not the depth of it, but he knew the desperation. It felt like all was lost, they had nowhere to turn and Voldemort was winning.

Just minutes after midnight they appeared.

Harry was more than familiar with the spell to open the underground tunnel and avoid the Willow's deadly lashing. Georgia and Daniel followed. When they neared the entrance to the Shrieking Shack he stopped and whispered to them, "Let me go first. Make no noise. If Mr Snape was followed then I don't want to lead you into a trap. When I tap three times on the floor then come up. If something happens…"

"Disapparate," she said and held Daniel at her side.

Harry climbed the rickety stairs in the dark, fearing to illuminate his wand. He stopped and listened several times trying to detect a noise. When he stepped on a board and it creaked he held his breath and then saw the formidable dark shape that stood at the head of the stairs.

Snape lit his wand with a tiny light and once having recognized him he spoke. "Have they come with you?"

"Are we alone?" Harry asked.

"Yes."

Harry finished climbing the stairs to stand before the man. "They are down below and won't come up unless I signal them. Should there be a problem she will disapparate.

"I have made sure we are safe for the moment," Snape said quickly. "I have a question about how you came about the information concerning Albus. We will talk later."

"I agree. I do have a suggestion, whether you value my advice or not," Harry kept his voice just above a whisper. "You need to talk to Daniel like a father not a teacher. He's afraid and confused and he doesn't know you. This may be the last time you can speak to him."

Snape stared at him and Harry was amazed at the range of emotion that flashed over his face. "I'm not sure I know how to do that."

The willingness to confess such a weakness surprised Harry. It was in Snape's favor that he vocalized his worry.

"I always found it comforting when I talked to Dumbledore. He treated me like an equal and never talked down to me," he said quietly. "He listened." He waited while Snape absorbed this and then he added, "It will make all the difference in the world if he knows that you loved his mother and never stopped loving her."

Snape stared at the floor and slowly nodded.

"And don't lie," Harry said. "I have lived with lies for years and it has about done me in." He used his wand and bent to tap on the floor. Minutes later they came up the stairs.

They entered the same room Harry had been in years before when he believe Sirius was a criminal and Remus had double-crossed him.

"Severus," Georgia stopped before him and pushed Daniel forward. "Talk to your son first. It's more important than anything we have to say to one another."

Daniel stood looking up at the very tall man dressed in dark robes. Even to Harry Snape looked intimidating. And then Snape reached out and put his hand on the boy's shoulder and guided him into the large room and to a corner where he sat on a chair and faced Daniel.

"It will be alright," Harry said to her as they stood and watched. "He needs this."

"Are we talking about Daniel or Severus? Georgia asked.

Harry glanced at the man and boy. "Daniel. I told you I was an orphan. My parents were killed by the Dark Lord and I was raised by my aunt. She was not a kind person. I probably would have forgiven my parents for anything as long as I could have known them. The truth is I know that they weren't perfect, my father in particular." Harry stared at Snape who was talking. His voice was but a low hum in the silence of the shack.

"Will you take Daniel down to the tunnel so I can have some privacy?" she asked when Daniel walked towards them.

Harry nodded and waved the boy back out through the door. Together they made their way to the tunnel.

"Will mum make us leave Hogwarts?" Daniel asked.

"Do you want to leave?" Harry asked.

"Father says that there will be a war and people will get hurt, maybe even die," the boy said. "He says that you're going to kill the bad wizard and he has to help so more people don't die."

Harry listened in the dark as they waited. "We're going to try, Daniel. It's best if you and your mother leave Hogwarts until this is over. You can come back then." He heard some sniffling and knew the boy was crying. "We are Gryffindors, Daniel. It means we are supposed to be brave. But I have to tell you that you can be both brave and scared. I know that I am."

"You…you are?"

"Yes, all the time." Harry heard the creaking overhead and knew the meeting between Snape and Georgia was over. "Now you must take care of your mum. Go back the way we came and make sure you return directly to Hogwarts. Tell your mother to go to Hagrid and he'll make sure you get away from Hogwarts safely."

"Will you promise me you'll take care of my father?" the boy said. A faint light illuminated his face and Harry saw the fear written there. "I don't want him to die."

"I will do my best." Harry waited until the woman came down the stairs and then he passed her to go to Snape. "Go to Hagrid. He'll get you out of Hogwarts," he said as he passed.

They were alone in the shrieking shack and they were different people than the ones who were there years before. This time they were equals with the same objective.

Harry didn't wait for Snape to ask. "I was in your rooms when you talked to Professor Mason last night. Dumbledore came back after you left. The rest you know. I apologize. I sincerely apologize for my intrusion and snooping. I think we need to get beyond this and talk about a plan."

Snape glared at him and Harry thought he knew what was coming next. He interrupted him. "Voldemort made seven Horcruxes. That's where Dumbledore was going when he went on his trips; that's what we did last night. We found one of them. I have it but he told me he didn't have a means to destroy it. Now there are others that have to be found."

Snape staggered back a fraction of an inch. "Horcruxes!" He looked horrified.

Harry nodded. "Tom Riddle's diary. The ring passed down through his family, a locket belonging to his mother which I have in my possession; Helga Hufflepuff's goblet. One resides inside of him. The other two…" He shrugged.

"You don't know what they are," Snape said.

"No. Dumbledore thought they might have a connection to the Hogwart's houses. It's not the sword or Sorting Hat or anything else I know of that belongs to Gryffindor. It could be something from Ravenclaw. If Dumbledore knew he didn't tell me."

Snape took a deep breath and stared off into the distance, "Albus, what have you done…."

"Will you help me?" Harry asked.

Snape stared at him and then shrugged. "I want to make sure Georgia and Daniel are safe. I want you to go to Gringott's and get some money out of my vault. Or send someone who is trustworthy. See that they are in a safe place, I don't want to know where they are."

Harry sat down in a chair nearby. "I'll do that."

"I need to go into hiding. I'll send word to you, I must have time to consider this."

Harry nodded again.

"Potter, I know you like to share information with your friends," Snape said, his voice was slightly cynical.

"We have fought together since we came to Hogwarts, Mr. Snape." Harry said, not allowing the man to push him to anger. "We've always been better off when we were together; we killed a troll if you'll remember when we were eleven, Hermione and Ron helped me to get to the Sourcerer's Stone, Hermione figured out there was a basilisk and almost died. They stood by me in the Department of Mysteries."

Harry knew what Snape wanted to say next and he beat him to it. "Whether it was wrong-headed of me to go their or not, it's done and I am responsible for Sirius' death. I admit it."

Surprisingly, Snape didn't seem to care. "Then I am in good company I guess." He wandered around the room, pausing now and again, agitated and acting strangely. He ignored Harry who watched with some apprehension. He hoped his old potion's professor hadn't become unhinged. He turned suddenly, "Dumbledore said nothing about how these…horcruxes could be destroyed?" he whispered the last, almost gagging.

"I destroyed one with the basilisk tooth; the diary. Dumbledore destroyed the Gaunt ring. He thought the Dark Lord's snake might be one."

Snape studied him with his dark eyes and frowned when he mentioned the snake. "And the cup?"

"It wasn't seen again," Harry replied.

"Do you have the locket with you?"

Harry reached into his pocket and withdrew a handkerchief and carefully unwrapped it. "It isn't the right locket. Someone replaced the real one with a fake and left a note with this one. We…." he stopped unable to breath for a moment and then managed to go on, "He died for nothing. This is a fake."

He handed it to Snape who read the note and opened the box to study the locket. "I would guess the initials stand for Regulus Black. He was the brother of Sirius Black. He went missing many years ago."

Harry was mildly shocked. "I thought he was loyal to Voldemort."

"Mr. Potter, when you are in my presence will you not say that name."

Harry glanced up and then nodded. He wasn't at all sure Snape wasn't right about Voldemort being sensitive when his name was used. He had felt comfortable using in Dumbledore's presence, but now he had a new ally. And he didn't feel quite as confident in Snape's protection.

Harry wasn't sure what to say next and he got up to leave. "Mr. Snape." He turned at the door. "Is it true you and my mother were childhood friends?"

Snape's head shot up and he frowned. "Yes, Mr. Potter it is."

"I hope we can find the time someday to talk about my mother," Harry said, "before one or both of us dies." He turned and left.


	4. Chapter 4

* 11-08-12- i have made some correctionsand have done a little editing, taking into account those errors reader's caught. I do hope you continue to read my stories and leave me a review.)

Chapter Four

Hermione made the trip to Gringott's. She entered the open foyer and watched nervously as the goblins went about their business. She held the requisite documents in her hands and Snape's key to his vault and tried to hide her anxiety by holding her head even higher, unaware it gave her a rather aristocratic profile. She approached the counter.

The goblin studied the documents she handed him and the key and then bowed slightly and went ahead of her. She rode in the tiny cart without speaking, holding on tightly and praying she wouldn't get sick from the motion.

They arrived fairly quickly and she stood waiting.

"Which vault?" the goblin asked.

"Mr. Severus Snape's vault," she said, somewhat stupidly.

"These are all the vaults of the Snape family," the goblin said. He waved at the wall of vault doors. There were a dozen.

Hermione was at a loss for words. _This will take all day! _she thought. _I can't possibly remove all of the gold from a dozen vaults. Perhaps just enough to bide them over for awhile._

She walked down the row. "Which of these are the oldest vaults?"

The goblin nodded in the direction of the door she stood before. "That one. It's not been opened for a century."

_A century! _Hermione thought in shock. "When was the last time Professor…Mr. Snape came to withdraw or deposit something in his vaults?"

"He has never been here. He sends a house elf to make his deposits and withdrawals. Mrs. Snape comes from time to time but not in the past years."

"Mrs. Snape?" Hermione repeated.

The goblin nodded, looking perturbed and impatient. "I will return shortly if you wish to enter each vault." He walked before each and waved a hand over the door. One-by-one they opened like a muggle garage door and then he climbed into his cart and left.

"But…" Hermione mumbled as she watched the cart soar off into the dark. "How can I summon you….." The thought of being stuck down in Gringott's vaults all by herself was unnerving. As far as she knew, a bank customer was never left alone and this was disconcerting.

_Mrs. Snape_, she thought and she bent her head to examine the vault. _I wonder who he meant; Snape's mother? She must be dead. A wife?… can't be, he's not married. An aunt…..cousin….sister?_ She speculated as she said LUMOS and lit her wand.

"Oh my!" she exclaimed as she peered into the first. The interior was so old that her wand barely illuminated the contents because they were covered with decades, if not centuries, of grime and dust. From what she could see it looked like the these particular items dated back at least five hundred if not a thousand years. Like Hogwarts, there were standing suits of armor, spears glowing dully under her wand light. The entire vault was an armory of ancient weaponry.

The next was filled with household items; serving platters, goblets, all made of gold. The china, the crystal stemware, silverware and other household items would fetch thousands and thousands of dollars in a muggle market.

She stepped back out and walked to the next and the next. After some time she was drawn to the vault that held the books. There were old maps, journals and ledgers, the writing in them faded and unintelligible. They all had the Snape Family crest emblazoned on the cover, a briar twisted around a rose. She studied the crest and opened one after another, feeling her nose itch with the dust. She collected several small ones and dropped them into her satchel.

_He'll never know or care that I borrowed them since he's never been to his own vaults_, she reasoned.

She collected a bag of galleons which she sat on the walkway outside and continued down the aisle, passing a vault that was floor to ceiling shelves of wine, knowing there were probably bottles of wine hundreds of years old.

Her next vault held portraits. She stepped in and let the light of her wand fall over the gigantic framed portraits of the Snape family. She knew they were relatives because they all had the aquiline nose and, most of all, the dark piercing eyes. Some looked like they had been asleep for hundreds of years, others stirred, blinking stupidly in the light or yawned, or protested softly against the intrusion.

One portrait in particular stood out. Leaning against the wall directly in front of the door, it's presence dominating the room, was a full size picture of a woman in a ball gown. It was probably only twenty years old, based on the fashion of the times. Hermione contemplated the severe expression on the woman's face. Although quite beautiful, her expression warped that beauty. There was clearly a Castilian quality in her heritage; the dark skin, the dark eyes and the mane of jet black hair. Overall, the portrait radiated a severity which was disturbing. At her side stood a boy of about twelve.

At one glance the boy would not have stood out, the presence of the woman was overpowering and demanding. The boy looked wan and sickly. He resembled, to some degree, the boy who had been sorted into Gryffindor the night before; Snape's son. The portrait was inanimate and yet the woman's eyes seemed to bore a hole into her and follow her, the regal head turned slyly to the side as she moved about the room.

Hermione could see an intricate pattern done in a thread of gold resembling a muggle tattoo. Looking closer she once again saw the Snape briar and rose, only this was embedded in gold on the skin of the woman's neck climbing to her neckline from her pale breast. It was well done and very pretty although strangely unsettling.

_She must have been your mother Snape. If she was, she wasn't a very kind woman was she? _Hermione turned away almost afraid to turn her back on the vault and the woman. It sent shivers down her back.

As she drew near the end of the line of open doors, it was clear these vaults had more modern contents. In fact, there was a room holding furniture built within the last two hundred years. A drugstore cabinet with a hundred small drawers lined one wall and in each she found the contents to mix potions or to store ones that were already mixed. She didn't doubt that Snape or a close relative, perhaps his mother, had made them.

Hermione was not easily impressed until she began to pull out one little drawer after another. Sometimes there were slips of paper holding the 'recipe' for the potion and sometimes only the potion. The ones that were labeled were impressive. There were many poisons, some recipes to make explosives which sounded like they could do horrific things, mundane potions for changing the color of one's skin or hair; there were potions that were dark and grotesque- animating a corpse, removing a human skin intact, and other atrocious concoctions.

She bypassed some of the drawers, pulling a few others out using only the hem of her robes. After going through a dozen or more she decided that the person who made the potions would probably have been awarded the Nobel Prize in the muggle world. She couldn't possibly imagine how complex a potion would be which would change the sex of an unborn child.

And then she saw it and stood holding her breath as she raised the vial of blue liquid to her eyes. It was a draft to reverse the werewolf curse.

_Oh my, _she thought. _I wonder if it really works?_ She also wondered why the Department of Mysteries didn't have some of these elixirs or if they were even aware of them, and decided they probably weren't. Knowing Snape had never visited the vaults, she thought it possible he didn't even know of the contents.

She slipped the precious vial into her robes and turned to leave when she heard the whistling sound of the cart returning. She glanced out into the dim light of the cave and saw the figure of the goblin in the cart darting around a curve and sliding to a halt down the end of the walkway. He was not alone.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

He was with Lucius Malfoy. Hermione was trapped and she knew it. He stepped out of the cart and sauntered towards her, although without the haughty step that he normally exhibited. He walked slowly and stopped feet away from her.

"Don't be frightened Miss Granger," he said softly. "I am not here to hurt you."

She had her wand in her hand but knew it was useless, she couldn't duel with Malfoy; he was much too accomplished. There was no way of escaping the underground tunnels without the goblin and he was under Malfoy's control. "It won't do you any good, Mr. Malfoy. I won't tell you were Harry is and you can hold me hostage but he won't come for me."

Malfoy didn't smile at her words, only nodded. It surprised her.

"I'm disappointed in not seeing Severus Snape, but you will have to do. I haven't come to harm you. Goldark was told to summon me if Snape's vaults were opened. I am only interested in finding him. If you can't tell me where he is then I wish to have you give him a message for me. I know you can do this."

Hermione knew that she couldn't lie to him about Snape having sent her to Gringott's. She would never have gotten access to Snape's vaults without his assistance and permission. She was feeling angry with herself for not having thought it might be a trap. "Why would I do that for you?"

He stepped forward and she drew back, wary of him, holding her wand in front of her.

"Severus and I are in the same predicament, Miss Granger," he replied quite gently. "We are expendable it seems; we and our families…well... perhaps he'll understand now that he has a family of his own. Voldemort doesn't need us any longer and it's become dangerous to be in his presence. So it would seem that there are several of us trying to keep our location secret and we have no means to contact one another."

"I say again, why should I care? Why should I help you?" Hermione asked. "You've tried to kill me and Harry and Ron. You've killed others."

"I…we… can shield you, the Weasley boy and his family, even you for a time. Perhaps we can even do the same for Potter." Malfoy stepped forward. "I have information I am willing to share with Mr. Potter. It will be helpful information. Understand that myself and a few others…including Severus if he chooses to stand with us…together we are formidable wizards. We can stand with you or against you. Please keep in mind, if you will, time is of the essence. HE is not yet aware of our subterfuge. All I'm hoping to do is convince Severus that we need to join forces- he and I." He stepped towards her and she didn't withdraw. "And Miss Granger, you must come with him. I know he would not put you in harm's way so if you accompany him I know he will be at least willing to listen."

Hermione held her breath for a moment contemplating her choices. "And if I choose not to help you?"

Malfoy shrugged. "You are free to go."

Hermione almost burst out laughing but managed to remain sober, "Really!" she managed with great disdain.

He stepped aside and waved an empty hand towards the cart and the goblin it.

She stared at the abyss that lined the vault walkway. It would take nothing for him to cast a spell the moment she was in the cart and send it plunging into a bottomless chasm with her and the goblin in it.

"Very well, what is your message," she said finally, praying that she could make it out of this alive.

"Tell him to meet me at Morilla's, tonight," Malfoy said, quietly. "She goes by the name of Giddeon."

"And if he refuses?" she asked.

"The Dark Lord wants his son and the woman, I've been sent to fetch them. I could tell you that unless you do as I ask you will be the reason that woman and her son die tonight," he said, "but I promise you that regardless of your answer I will not harm them."

He watched her and realized her reservations. "The Dark Lord still has Draco. I know Severus would kill him in a heart beat if I did the same of his boy, so we are at a standoff. If you give him the message he will understand the meaning and he will come."

"There's no guarantee I can find him," she said.

"Miss Granger, Severus Snape has only ever sent a house elf to his vaults. That you are here, tells me he made a request of Potter. You would only come here at his request, not trusting in Snape yourself. It can only mean Severus wishes to find a safe place for the boy and woman. If I were intent on killing you I would torture you for the location where you intend to drop off those galleons first and then it would be only a matter of…." He waved his cane lazily. It held his wand.

She glared at him, having forgotten she was carrying a rather large bag in her other hand. "Who is this woman- Giddeon?" she asked, moving past him.

She slowed when he stared into the vault that held the portraits. "I think you have already met her, Miss Granger." They stood on the walkway in front of the vaults and his light from his wand fell on the portrait.

_His mother! Snape's mother is alive! _She refused to look at the picture again, taking his detachment as an opportunity to step into the cart.

Malfoy watched her with his pale eyes as the cart drew away from the platform. She didn't look back.

…

Later, as the pale moon sailed towards the horizon trailing a cold path of stars behind it, she apparated into a village. It was dark, all the inhabitants asleep or in hiding. She walked quietly through the moon shadows towards her destination. Although she had never been here before she was given explicit instructions and she made her way without faltering.

It was a dark and abandoned house. She stood looking at it with great misgivings. It was draped in the accumulation of years of neglect, the roof had holes in it; the shutters hung on broken hinges. A broken stone path meandered through the garden and weeds filled the area in front of the house.

The house looked dead, devoid of life. She doubted even a mouse could find a home here. Yet, she knew this was the correct rendezvous point. There was a burned out section where it appeared there had been a fire or an explosion. She knew it was neither. It was the Potter house in Godric's Hollow.

A dark figure walked down the empty street towards her. There were no street lights illuminating the cobblestone and there were no close neighbors near the house; it stood alone. She waited, feeling anxious.

Harry and Ron were at Hogwarts waiting for her to return from her task at Gringotts. She was shielding them from the events of the afternoon and she hoped they would forgive her this one time. If she ended up killed, Voldemort would not have any ammunition to use against Harry. And if he had intended on abducting her he would have done it already. However, Malfoy was not to be trusted and so she had contacted Snape using the code he'd given her and she'd preceded on her own. He would make the decision whether to continue or not.

Besides, she was the most skilled of the three of them and according to her thinking, not as valuable as Harry. Like Malfoy she believed she was expendable.

Without speaking he walked up to her, let her see a glimpse of his face and then he took her arm and together they walked further on down the street. She was appalled to find him leading her into a graveyard. There were several ghosts drifting aimlessly around. They paid them no attention.

"Tell me," he murmured as they walked. It was a dark night with the moon dropping low on the horizon early in the evening; it's light weakened.

She spoke in a soft voice and told him what Malfoy had said. When she said the word, 'Morilla', he stopped short. She almost ran into him. She waited, watching his face carefully. They were in the shade of a large monument and it was hard to tell what he was thinking or feeling. She heard the slight gasp and that was all.

"Mr. Snape…" she whispered. "Do you believe he has information which would prove useful to our investigation?" He knew Harry had filled her in on the events over the past forty-eight hours. She knew he was aware of the Horcruxes without actually speaking of any of it.

He remained silent, turned away from her. "This just gets better and better," he said, more to himself than to her.

"Mr. Snape?"

He turned quickly. "Are you sure you weren't followed?"

"I did what you told me to do, I apparated at least four times, once into the muggle world and back."

He waved his wand over her, it gave off a faint blue light and he quickly extinguished it. "You have not been charmed so I think we are safe for the moment."

"It's nearing midnight," she said. "We must go if we are going."

"He said I had to bring you," he repeated.

She nodded and then realizing it was too dark for him to see her she answered, "Yes. If I come with you he says he trusts you'll listen to what he has to say because he says…you'd never hurt me." She swallowed hoping what Malfoy said was true.

She had believed in Snape all along until he'd killed Dumbledore. She questioned her own reasoning when that happened, and every other decision she'd ever made. It was with some relief when Harry told her what Snape had really done.

He stood hovering over her, one hand on his hip, a foot braced on an old tombstone. He was dressed all in black with a long black cloak and in the darkness of the graveyard he looked like a giant among the shadows.

"Very well," he sighed. "Miss Granger, the woman I am about to meet was in Azkaban for many years for murdering a man in a quite horrendous way. She was released and now resides in isolation monitored by a select group of caretakers."

She listened to his low deep voice and a thousand thoughts flew through her mind. _What are you saying? _She wondered. _What are you trying to tell me?_

"Are you saying that she is insane?" she asked.

His head dropped and she thought he was in deep thought. She held her breath in anticipation, knowing they were talking about his mother. He was not aware of her knowledge.

"Yes. Put simply," he said finally. "She is very dangerous. I believe it will not be necessary for you to see her or be in her presence. As soon as Lucius sees you with me you'll be able to apparate back to Hogsmeade. Return to Hogwarts as soon as possible, take one of the hidden tunnels back into the school." He stopped for a moment. "I know you are aware of at least two of them."

"Yes. I'll do that," she answered.

"I understand Georgia and Daniel are in hiding," he said.

"Yes. No one knows where they are, not Harry or me."

"As soon as I find out the information Lucius says he has I will send you a message. If you value Mr. Potter's life than you should find a means to intercept and carry the message to him and not allow him to leave Hogwarts grounds."

"I will, Mr. Snape."

"Make sure you are not followed when you leave me," he reminded her.

"I will do as you ask," she repeated.

"If this is a trap…" he stopped.

She knew what he was saying. There was no way to know if Malfoy was waiting to spring a trap on both of them. If that happened there was no way he could protect her.

"Very well, Miss Granger, take my arm. I must do a side-along apparition."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

They arrived in front of a huge building made of marble; it was more like a mausoleum than a building inhabited by the living. However, it was on a street lined with elms and other institutional types of buildings and appeared fairly normal in this setting. There were lights on in the windows even though it appeared very sterile and not at all homey.

Malfoy was waiting for them in plain view. Snape was on guard and glanced all around them before he looked at Malfoy. Hermione let go his arm as soon as she felt him relax.

They all stood in a pool of light before the steps leading up to the front door. A pair of enchanted stone lions guarded it. They growled menacingly as the three approached. Hermione watched the two men carefully, staying slightly behind Snape, holding her wand at the ready.

"Lucius," Snape said simply.

Malfoy nodded, glancing once at her. "Perhaps we should go inside and get off the street."

Snape dropped his head once in acknowledgement of the danger of being exposed. Hermione followed them, giving the lions a wide berth.

The open foyer was much like a hospital in that it was lined with waiting room chairs and had a front desk. There were no people present.

"You may go, Miss Granger," Snape said without taking his eyes off of Malfoy.

"Would you mind waiting," Malfoy said, holding out his hand.

She stepped behind Snape, and turned to protect his back.

_It was as we expected, a trap_, she thought.

"Draco and Bella told…Him… that you killed Dumbledore and yet you are here with Granger," Malfoy's voice was soothing and soft. "What am I to think? Are you in the service of the master or did you serve Dumbledore? If you have served the latter it has been a masterful job and I commend you; I never guessed, Severus."

Malfoy continued keeping his voice low and soft, "I'm not here to trick you, Severus. Miss Granger has already told you that I wish to protect my family. You know, more than I, he cares nothing for us. He intends to rule with an iron fist and we are not part of that plan."

"What do you want, Lucius?" Snape asked.

"I want you to go and get Draco and bring him to me," Lucius said. "The Dark Lord trusts you now, more than ever. In turn, I shall stand at your side if you mean to oppose him. You see I take a grave risk by my admission."

Snape nodded. "Yes, you do. What if I should be in the Dark Lord's service."

"I expect you to kill me now," Lucius said, nonchalantly. "Or try at least, although we are evenly matched. I doubt either of us would survive."

"What do I get for doing this?" Snape asked. "You told Miss Granger you had information of importance. What kind of information?"

"Lord Voldemort is seeking something which is important to him. I know what it is and where to find it. I don't understand why he wants it so badly, but he has gone to some lengths to find it. Let's say it is foremost on his mind. Is this something you might be interested in knowing about? Do you know why he seeks it?"

"What is it Lucius," Snape asked while Hermione stared off into the dim light holding her breath.

Malfoy shrugged. "Do you agree?"

Snape nodded, Hermione could feel him at her back.

"First Draco," Lucius said.

"Tell me what you have first," Snape said, firmly. "We need not go through those doors at all. There is no need for it."

"I will tell you what I know," Lucius bargained, "and I will help you deal with her." He nodded towards a double doorway that led into hallway visible through glass windows. The hall was long and paneled in heavy oak. There were only a few doors along the walls.

"What is the purpose of seeing Morilla?" Snape asked, eyeing the double doors.

"She safeguards the object you seek," Lucius said. "If I am to help you then you will bring Miss Granger with us."

Snape reacted violently to his suggestion. "No!"

"Then you will see Morilla alone and you can ask her to give it to you. Do it politely Severus and she might, although it's likely you'd end up scarred for life. This is IF you knew what this object was," Lucius said. "Sorry Miss Granger but you are my assurance Severus will not go back on his word."

"So I am a hostage," she snapped, coming around Snape to confront him directly.

"In a manner of speaking," he said, shrugging once again.

Snape stared at the doors looking horrified. "She has it?"

Lucius nodded, looking slightly amused. "I think you'd prefer to know what the object is before you ask for it. Am I right, Severus?"

"Will he come to her to retrieve it?"

Lucius shook his head. "At the moment, he thinks she's dead. That could change."

Snape's shoulders seemed to droop and Hermione was biting at her lip to stop from asking questions.

"It took both Dumbledore and me to put her in here," Snape said. "How did you find her?"

It was Malfoy's turn to shrug. "It's of no consequence, Severus, my informant is dead."

"She will want her freedom for any information or object I want," Snape said. "I won't give it to her."

"Nor I," Lucius said, strolling over to a chair and situating himself in it as if for a long wait. "I'm not willing to turn another monster loose in the world. However, I understand she has missed you. She wants to see you. I have dangled the opportunity before her and I think she will be willing to make a trade. And this…object… seems very important to you."

Snape once again seemed to shrink and Hermione was becoming anxious. She'd seen the woman's portrait and it was intimidating. However, she wondered at the kind of woman that could make these two men cringe at the thought of meeting her. _They are two of the most powerful men in the wizard world_, she thought.

"Very well," Severus said.

"Draco first," Lucius replied.

Snape turned to her. "Stay here, I won't be long." He turned to Malfoy. "I'm going to send a message to Hogwarts telling them Miss Granger will be back within three hours."

Malfoy thought it over. "Very well. Severus, will you tell me why the Dark Lord wants this object." He waited and the other man remained silent. "It is part of the game, Severus. We don't trust one another and so I have had to set up these conditions. But what I told Miss Granger was not false. I will stand with you if you intend to oppose Him. It seems to me that you are going through a great deal to retrieve this object."

Hermione once again bit her lip and glanced up at Snape.

"Voldemort made seven horcruxes. The object he seeks is one of them," Snape said and then disapparated.

There was a profound silence for about a minute until Malfoy stood. "What did he say?" he asked, his voice shaking.

"Horcruxes," she mumbled. "He said horcruxes."

"Good Lord," Malfoy gasped.

_You can say that again_, Hermione thought.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

Ron Weasley left his twin brother's shop feeling satisfied. They had come up with a number of enchantments, spells and magical devices to use primarily if they ever went to war. These they kept on a shelf in a darkened corner of their back shop. Yes, they were experimental and given that the twins experiments often backfired, they were not sold or even available to the general public.

Ron, on the other hand, managed to talk them out of one item that he actually paid for with his very hard-earned money. They would not have parted with it if it had not been for the fact Ron told them it was for Harry, and Ron wasn't unhappy about the fact they wouldn't have sold it to him otherwise. Even though his life had mostly taken a backseat to that of his friends' it wasn't something that bothered him. Better that than be a target, he often thought.

This time he was excited for Hermione to return to Hogwarts so he could show her even he had some smarts sometimes.

He apparated to Hogsmead from Diagon Alley in the middle of a snowstorm and trudged up to the school all by himself. There were no tracks in the snow that lay before him and he was surrounded by peaceful, white, serene forest.

He was not aware Hermione was with Snape and that she was about to embark on a dangerous task. He knew she had undertaken the task of fetching money from Snape's vaults at Harry's request. They all felt it was safer for her to go than for Harry. They worried there might be some danger in her going but she had all the necessary documents and there should have been no trouble so he wasn't concerned at the moment.

Ron was not untouched by Dumbledore's death and the grief that Harry and the rest of the school was suffering. He was sorry to lose the old man because he was well-liked and a powerful wizard who fought on the side of right in his world. Moreso, Ron liked him because he stood in the way of the Dark Lord actually killing his best friend. Nor was he worry free about his family and his own safety, but he felt there was little Voldemort wanted from him. But he wasn't stupid and he realized his association with Harry had put him at risk and meddling in such dangerous affairs of the Dark Lord's, which included the Horcruxes, put him rather close to the top of the Dark Lord's priority hit list.

Therefore he walked with his head up, cautious and on guard. As a result, it was less of a surprise to him when a figure walked out of the white curtain of snow and approached him. He was a little more at ease when he realized it was a child and not a man even though he kept his wand up.

It was Daniel Mason, Snape's son.

"Hey mate, whatcha doin' out here?" Ron asked, glancing around them uneasily. The boy was alone. "You shouldn't be away from the school grounds. Besides, I thought you and your mother left Hogwarts. You were to be in a safe place by now."

The boy nodded, his face almost hidden by a muffler. Ron could still see the dark eyes and the facial resemblance to his old Potion's Professor. It made him feel mildly uncomfortable. He didn't like Snape, never trusted him and if the boy got into trouble he knew Snape would hold him responsible.

"Come on let's get you back to Hogwarts," Ron turned him and headed him back towards the school.

"Your Harry Potter's friend aren't you?" he asked in a muffled voice.

Ron nodded. "Yeah, mate, I am."

"Can you find him for me?" Daniel asked.

"He's up at the school, Daniel," Ron said, stopping in the middle of the road, frowning slightly. Classes had been temporarily suspended due to the moarning period caused by Dumbledore's death. "He should be in Gryffindor Common Room."

"Okay," Daniel muttered. "Can you get me in to see him. I couldn't get past the wards."

Ron shrugged. "Sure. Not to worry. He's around somewhere. If your mum is wondering about the money, Hermione's gone to Gringott's and she'll be back this afternoon. Harry will find a way to get it to you."

The boy stared down at his feet for a moment and then looked up squinting into the blowing snow. "Mum left me and said she'd be back. I don't think it was about the money. She's been gone now for a day and night and I think she went looking for Professor Snape…for my dad."

Ron inhaled quickly. He was not the one who usually solved problems when they came up. He was all right when it meant that Harry or Hermione needed a backup, but he wasn't good at thinking things through.

"You were supposed to go into hiding," Ron said.

The boy nodded again. "We went to London. Mum thought it was safe there."

"How'd you get here?" Ron asked, continuing their walk towards the school.

"Took a train last night," Daniel said. "Didn't know where else to go."

Ron was impressed. Although he remembered stealing a car and flying to Hogwarts, he'd never done something like that on his own and he thought the boy was pretty courageous.

"Let's get up to the school and find Harry, maybe he can help."

They trudged through ever deepening snow.

"Can you tell me about my father?" Daniel asked as they walked.

Ron glanced down and pulled his own muffler around his face. "Later," he mumbled. "Let's get to the school first." He was happy the snowstorm gave him a reprieve.

He didn't really have anything nice to say about Snape and yet he'd lived around Harry for years. His friend was an orphan and had never known his parents and Ron watched him suffer because of it. Harry had yearned for every bit of information good or bad about his parents all the years he had known him. Ron knew the boy walking next to him wanted to know his father, just like Harry, and Ron did not want to be the one to have to tell him anything.

…

"Lucius, I need to speak to Miss Granger privately for a few minutes," Snape said. They stood in the foyer of the hospital. Snape had gone after Draco and brought him to the hospital where Lucius took him aside. Draco had then disapparated and the older Malfoy was ready to complete his end of the deal.

Snape took her gently by the arm to the end of the room, leaned over and spoke very softly. "You must do exactly as I say, Miss Granger. No mistakes."

She nodded.

"We will go into the room. You will stay beside me and not speak, not look at her; not respond to anything she says or asks of you. This woman, Morrilla Prince, is a unique witch with many gifts. She is quite brilliant, beyond words to describe. She sees everything; if you have a crumb on your mouth from breakfast she will see it and know what you ate; if you trod in mud or sand, she will know where you stepped, from what part of the country; if you wear a perfume, she can tell you what ingredients made it.

She shall be studying you, every blink of an eye, every breath you take. I don't doubt that she can hear your heart beat and know if it is stirred by fear or passion," he murmured. "She uses this information; she manipulates. What she wants more than anything is to leave this place."

Hermione looked over at Malfoy and back to Snape. "Is she insane?"

Snape nodded slightly. "The worst kind of insanity, Miss Granger. There is no conscience, no emotion, no regret. She kills for the pleasure of it. You have heard of the mating process of the black widow?" His eyebrow raised and he waited for her acknowledgement. "She has mated many times and killed each time."

Hermione felt herself shiver and goose pimples rise on her arms. _This is your mother you're talking about_, she thought, unable to give voice to her thoughts. "Why must I be present?" she asked.

Snape sighed deeply, his eyes closed momentarily and she knew he did not want to reveal any more to her than he already had. "I have no doubt she has one of the items we seek, but she asks a price for information."

It was Hermione's turn to frown. "How would she know anything about….you know what?" Hermione hoped he understood her meaning. She did not want to have to say the word 'horcrux' out loud.

"I am guessing, Miss Granger, but I assume that the Dark Lord left this item with her for safe-keeping. He is probably seeking to find all of them and make them safe. Lucius was probably sent ahead to make sure she continued to possess it."

"Why would the Dark Lord trust her? Did she know Vol…Tom Riddle?"

Snape's eyebrow once again almost touched his hairline. "She was the Potion's Professor at Hogwarts when he attended school there."

"Oh, I see," Hermione mumbled, suddenly remembering the potion's book Harry used in their classes with Slughorn.

"Lucius is using this situation to his advantage. He's been sent here on an errand from the Dark Lord; his task is to learn about the object and return to his master and tell him it is safeguarded. But Lucius knows that she will not divulge this information freely so he made a deal with her… and in turn he made one with me. He brings me to her, his family is safe and he gives the Dark Lord what he wants."

"But he promised to tell you what it was," Hermione said and Snape interrupted her.

"Yes, and he may do so before he gives the information to Him. I think there will be sufficient time to get it from her. Malfoy can disappear after having confirmed where she is and that she still has the object. The Dark Lord may not come for it but be satisfied it remains safe. We can only hope."

"Why doesn't Malfoy just disappear now?"

"What she wants is to be released and only the Dark Lord will set her free. She will do what he wants only if Lucius lets Him know where she is and what she wants."

"But why do I have to be present?" Hermione asked.

"She wants to see me but she also wants an 'innocent', a person without guile who she can use for information. She knows I won't satisfy her and Lucius won't, so it must be someone who she can…infiltrate…penetrate. She is an accomplished Legilimens."

Hermione studied his face. She knew he was keeping something back." "Penetrate?" she repeated. The word sounded alarming.

He stopped once again and studied her face. "It will feel like rape, Miss Granger. She will enter your mind and take what she wants. It might be your history, your feelings about the ones you love. It will feel like a violation of the worst kind. Once she has it, it is in her nature to use it. It will leave you vulnerable for as long as she lives."

Hermione was stunned and didn't know what to say. She had a choice, go and see this woman and get one of the horcruxes, or refuse. "What does she want from you? she asked, breathlessly.

"Let's just say that Daniel and Madam Mason will be in grave danger," Snape said.

"You can't protect yourself from her? Use Occlumency?"

"Miss Granger, she taught me the skill," Snape said, quietly. "She is my mother."

Malfoy walked towards them, a frown on his face. "Severus! Are we going to do this or not. I have a timeline."

"Mr. Snape," Hermione ignored Malfoy. "You can't go in there then. If you can't protect yourself then they will be in danger."

"That's why I'm going to kill her," Lucius said. "He can't do it, so I will. If this thing is a horcrux, as you say, then I will leave it in your hands. I trust you'll find a way to destroy it and any others that still exist. I will not go back on what I said Severus, I will stand by you and oppose him, but I must get away safely."

Snape nodded and turned to follow Malfoy who left them.

"He's going to kill her?" Hermione gasped, hauling on Snape's arm as he moved to follow.

Snape stopped. "If you can't do this then leave now." His eyes darkened as he waited for her answer. "There is no other way. If we want to take this horcrux we must take it from her."

"But….but she won't have a wand," Hermione challenged. "She'll be defenseless. Just take it from her. You don't have to kill her."

"I will not put Daniel and Georgia in jeopardy. Are you willing to put your friends in peril?" Snape asked. "When the Dark Lord finds her he will release her!"

Hermione dropped her hand and watched him walk towards the double doors, and then she followed.

…

Ron and Daniel were approaching the gates to Hogwarts. It was increasingly becoming more difficult to see. He wasn't prepared when he heard the voice coming from behind them. He was a second to late in turning.

"Drop your wand, Weasley," Draco said.

Ron stood squinting into the snow. It was his nemesis Draco Malfoy.

"Who's the kid?" Draco asked.

Ron reached for Daniel, waved his wand at the protective wards and shoved him through the gates. "It's just a kid on his way back from Hogsmeade, Draco. Leave him be!" He yelled at Daniel. "Go back to school you stupid git! And don't tell anybody you were off grounds if you know what's good for you, or you'll get punished. Go!"

Daniel took off running and disappeared immediately in the snowstorm.

Draco was angry but it was too late. "Let's go."

"Where we going Draco?" Ron asked nonchalantly, trying not to appear afraid.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

"You're to take me to Potter," Draco said. "My father says there are secret tunnels into Hogwarts. I have a message to give to Potter."

"Give it to me and I'll pass it on," Ron said.

Draco shook his head. "No. I want to see him face-to-face."

"I won't do it, Malfoy," Ron said, stepping back, his wand up. "I'm not afraid of you. You weren't so brave when it came to killing Dumbledore, had to wait for Snape to do it for you. Go back to your father and tell him that it'll take someone braver than you to get to Harry."

It was getting harder to see in the darkness and the blowing snow but Ron could tell Draco was furious.

"Weasley, you stupid…git!" Draco stepped closer. "It's about a Horcrux, alright? My dad said to tell him it's about a Horcrux. Granger is with Snape and he and my father and Granger are going after a Horcrux."

Ron stepped back astonished at the news_. A Horcrux! _he thought_. And Hermione's with Snape and Malfoy._

"Are you deaf?" Draco shouted. "Are you going to take me too him or not?"

"Yeah, alright. But you make a wrong move and I'll stun you." Ron dropped waved his wand and nodded for Draco to walk before him.

"I can't go through the front door," Draco said, grabbing his arm. "They think I helped kill Dumbledore."

"They would be right wouldn't they Malfoy," Ron shouted back. "I'm not taking you through any of the hidden tunnels because I don't want you to tell your Death Eater friends where they are. So you'll either go with me this way or not at all." They faced each other at a stalemate. "It's snowing so hard no one is going to see us anyway and the halls are empty. Do it my way or you can leave."

Draco was seething but dropped his wand and nodded. Ron waved his wand over the wards at the gate and the two of them struggled through the accumulating snow towards the castle.

…

Hermione followed the two wizards down the long hallway. The door were solid and had no viewing windows and she had no idea what to expect when they stopped before the door at the end of the hall. Snape hesitated and Malfoy was beginning to look frustrated.

"I'll keep my wand on her," Lucius said. "They've got her under a restraint charm, Severus." He was impatient.

"It won't stop her from using her mind," Snape said and opened the door.

He led them into a large room or set of apartments. They were altogether different than what Hermione expected. They were decorated like a person's home with rich furniture, drapery and ancient tapestry. The one large room was divided into living quarters that included a drawing room and bedroom suite and a large library. There were other doors leading off of the main area into other private rooms.

Altogether, the place was filled with the most expensive of decorations, antiquities and lavish statuary. It was a place fit for a queen.

An attendant stepped out from behind a curtained area and nodded to Malfoy and then left the room.

"They've given her a potion," Malfoy said, quietly. "It should help."

Snape glared at him and walked over to the drapery and pulled it aside.

The woman in the portrait had come alive and was laying on a lounge, awaiting their arrival. Hermione was surprised at just how little the woman had aged. If she had to guess, she would have said that Morilla Prince was the same age as her son. Her beauty remained unadulterated. She exuded a power that waas not diminished by seeing her in reality, in fact it was stronger.

Hermione felt the woman's eyes drift over her son and then towards her and she forced herself to look at the landscape picture on the wall near the woman's head.

"Severus, darling. How nice of you to come and visit mummy," her voice was soft, seductive and tipped like a poison dart with cynicism. "I'd get up and give you a little welcoming kiss, but my companions felt it necessary to restrain me. In my own rooms, too! How very gauche of them." She laughed and there was a creepiness to her laugh. There was no hilarity in the sound.

"Lucius, come and sit beside me and keep me company," she said, turning her dark eyes on Malfoy. 'You've always been much more of a gentleman than my son, your manners are so impeccable. I imagine it was my fault for not training Severus better when he was young. Still, I think it's the inner breeding that counts rather than the training; sadly, Severus is a half-breed and it shows. Once again my fault for having married a muggle and becoming its' brood mare."

Once again the laughter.

Hermione watched Snape and Malfoy and tried to pretend she was a fly on the wall.

"I think not, Morilla," Lucius said, wandering around the small area, studying the paintings on the wall. "I feel soiled whenever you touch me."

Hermione held her breath at the outright insult but the woman broke into even shriller laughter.

"Morilla, I am not here to play games," Snape said, firmly. "Lucius says you have something of Tom Riddle's he left in your care. I want you to give it to me."

Her dark eyes flitted over to Lucius who was ignoring her. "Why not call me Mother, Severus? It would make me ever so happy."

Snape remained silent.

"Oh, I understand," she said with a bright grin. "Trying to keep our relationship a little secret."

"Morilla," Lucius spun around and approached her with caution. "I will keep my promise, as I said before."

"Why should I do anything for you or for you Severus? Dumbledore is dead. You wouldn't come here with Lucius if Dumbledore were still alive." She looked at her son. "You would never face me alone." She stared up at him. "You cannot hold me by yourself and you think the two of you are strong enough." She smiled, the dark eyes twinkling with evil. She was enjoying herself. "Perhaps you are."

Hermione felt the woman's look as if she were caught in a spotlight and she slowly moved behind Snape, trying to study the wall and keep her mind clear.

"You have brought a muggle-born witch, I see. An unusual choice for you Severus, but then you were partial to a muggle-born woman many years ago, if I recall; the one who died. She was your little friend when you disappeared from the house and tried to hide from me as a boy. You tried to keep her a secret from me even as you grew older. I was so impressed by your skill. However, we both know mummy will have her way. No woman shall have you my son. Not until you give me what I want." She was no longer laughing. There was a bitterness in her voice as she spoke.

Snape was motionless, expressionless and followed her only with his eyes, wary of her every move.

"Don't look so surprised. Mummies know these things, dear one," she said, trying to get a better look at Hermione and was limited by her invisible bindings. "This one though…. she is clever, very smart. You never bother with the ones that aren't brilliant, darling. But she is quite young. Have you given into baser delights, Severus? Are you bedding young girls now?"

"Enough Morilla," Snape said. "You will either give this object to me or you won't. If you choose not to, Lucius will go on his way. Riddle will never know where you are."

"Do you expect me to believe that?" she asked.

"You have a choice," Snape said quietly. "Give it and we may let you live."

She broke out laughing once again. "What? So that I will live out the rest of my life here in this gilded prison. Given enough time Severus, I have found that my wardens have weakened in their constitution. The one who left us moments ago has been under my guidance, shall we say, for a long time. It is nothing for me to possess a weak mind." The woman was speaking to Snape but looking at Hermione. "What if I tell you I don't have to make a deal with you at all?"

"Lucius be wary of her," Severus began and then he turned to Hermione, throwing out his arm to shield her.

At that moment Hermione felt a terrible urge to look up and stare into the woman's eyes. She fought it for seconds before she felt compelled and when she looked she felt as if she were falling into a well so deep there was no bottom.

Hermione had never been under the Imperious Curse but she thought it would feel very much like this. Her thoughts were not her own; her feelings, not her own. She shared the space in her head with this woman and it was horrifying. What was worse was, she was not the personality in control. She watched from afar, unable to stop her own actions.

She turned her wand on Snape and Malfoy. It took seconds for the woman to use an unspoken curse and stun and paralyze them with a curse, Hermione was surprised to perform the curse; it was quite powerful and way beyond her own knowledge. The woman then had Hermione remove the charm keeping her bound.

Hermione knew Morilla Prince had been given a potion to restrain her but it was ineffective. The woman rose smoothly to her feet and towered over her.

"So easy to fool them. And now, who are you?" she whispered gently, taking Hermione's chin and raising her head.

Hermione had never practiced Occlumency, had no reason to. She did however, have a strong desire not to have this woman ransack her mind. Just having her inside her head left a slick trail of evil slime and Hermione wondered if she was going to have nightmares the rest of her life.

"Tell me why Severus would have chosen to bring you to me?" the woman asked mentally.

Hermione concentrated on a book she had been reading for the past several years; Hogwarts, A History. It was an immense tome and, although she read with the swiftness of a bird in flight, she had not managed to read the entire 1,000,000 word book; well it was said to have a million words in it, but then Hermione was sure the book added pages as you went along. It was a history, after all, and she thought the writing was trying to keep up with current events. She couldn't be sure; it had been written over a thousand years prior but there was a sense it was still recording history.

Given that she was reading it for pleasure only, it had taken a back seat to other things in her life and she hadn't finished it. Actually, she was sure no one had finished it in their lifetime.

It was easy for her to force her mind to form the images of the words on the pages in the book. In her muggle world, she would have been told she had an Eidetic memory or perfect recall; it was also known as a photographic memory. Here they would just say she remembered everything she had ever read, seen, learned or heard. Morilla's intrusive mind was a background noise she could easily force out as she reviewed the last few chapters of the book in her head.

"Agh!" Morilla growled and snapped out of Hermione's mind. "Worthless!" The woman's face twisted in rage. "So, you are an accomplished occlumens. Severus has taught you well. Is that why he brought you? To fool me, to insult me?" She turned on her heel and disappeared through a door. She returned having exchanged her long, satin lounging gown for a traveling dress. Her hair was caught up in dark curls under her hat and a sheer veil of black netting covered her face. She was as beautiful now as she had been in the portrait in Gringott's vaults.

Hermione remained standing, her expression vacant. Morilla swept by her as if she were a potted plant, not even giving her a second glance. She stopped long enough to pat Snape on the cheek and then she left, a hint of her extravagant perfume was all that was left behind.

Hermione was finally brought to full awareness by Snape. He also used Legilimency to enter her mind, but his was definitely more gentle and less intrusive.

She stuttered out an, "…I'm….sorry…"

"It's alright Miss Granger," Snape said studying her with a strange expression on his face. "I see that she did not claim you as a victim as I surmised. Where did you learn Occlumency?" He shook his head when she didn't speak. "Never mind it's not important. What is important is we have no Horcrux and she is gone. We don't even know what it is."

Hermione started to say something and Malfoy interrupted. "I dare not go back to him, Severus. She'll find him and he will know we've betrayed him. It's best to go into hiding and forget about these Horcruxes."

Snape was staring at him and shaking his head, arguing with Malfoy. An alarm had gone off in the building and a clanging noise was making it almost impossible to hear what was being said. "…must find her and bring her back here or kill her. HE cannot be killed if these Horcruxes exist."

Malfoy shook his head and headed for the door.

Hermione grabbed Snape's arm. He was about to yank it free and go after Malfoy, but she clung to it and shouted at him. "I know what it is and where it is."

He stopped.

"I know everything she knew," Hermione was shouting. "Once I see it, I remember it. The object is the Medal for Magical Merit from Hogwarts It has the name, T. M. Riddle on it; a gold medal that was in the trophy room at Hogwarts. I took Harry there once. Riddle got it for framing Hagrid as the person who opened the Chamber of Secrets. It's a GOLD MEDAL." She shouted the last just as the clanging stopped and her voice echoed in the room.

"Don't touch it," Snape said quickly as she reached for it.

"It's alright, Mr. Snape," Hermione said reaching in and handing it to him. "I've just touched the box."

He stared at it briefly and then slipped it into his pocket. "Your part in this is done, Miss Granger. It's time we leave. You can go back to Hogwarts."

He was moving her through the hallway and attendants were rushing past them towards the suite of rooms. The other doors in the hallway were open. It was clear that all the inmates were let loose.

They were outside in the dark and Snape pushed her towards the dark road, "Go!"

She shook her head. "You don't understand, Mr. Snape. I know where she's going and what she intends to do." She reached for his robes as Medwizards rushed past them into the night. "I was in her mind, too. Don't you understand? I know all that she knows."

Snape halted on the stairs and stared at her in horror. "All that she knows?"

Hermione nodded. "You can't just dismiss me as if I were a school girl in your class. I have a right to fight this evil, too. I know how to destroy that." She nodded towards his pocket.

"We need to leave right now, Miss Granger," Snape hissed.

Hermione nodded again. "Yes, we do."

"Very well. Apparate back to our meeting place earlier this evening. I shall be waiting."

He was gone before Hermione could speak. She glanced around feeling terribly uncomfortable about being in the street alone. Shrieks in the distance told her some of the inmates were letting the world know they were free. She shivered, clutched her robes closer to her and disapparated, praying Snape would not abandon her.

….

At Hogwarts, hours had gone by and Hermione still had not sent word or returned. Harry and Ron had taken Draco to the Room of Requirement hoping to keep his presence secret. McGonagall had taken Dumbledore's position temporarily and she had ordered extra teachers guarding the halls.

"Harry what do you thinks keeping her?" Ron asked for the hundredth time in an hour. Harry was past answering him. He sat in an overstuffed chair and tapped his wand on the table before him. It pinged like a flick of a finger on crystal each time he did it.

Draco was wandering in among the lanes of junk piled to the ceiling. He'd already passed on his message to Harry about the Horcrux. There was no new news there. He already knew Snape, Malfoy and Hermione were going after a Horcrux.

Harry rose and headed for the door. "We can't worry about Hermione, Ron, We have to trust Snape will protect her. It's time we look for Georgia Mason. She has no idea how much danger she is in. We need to gather up Daniel and see if he can't take us back to London and maybe we can track her from there.

"What about, Draco?" Ron asked, glancing down a long aisle at the blond-headed young man.

"He's not going anywhere, Ron," Harry said looking back. "His dad can't get to him here, he can't be in the halls and get caught- he wouldn't stand a chance with everyone knowing he tried to kill Dumbledore- so we might as well leave him here. He's a much a prisoner as Hogwarts can make him."

Ron nodded, thinking it through. "But why go looking for Professor Mason? There's nothing to say she's in trouble. Maybe Daniel just got nervous too soon."

"You think so, Ron," Harry asked as they walked down the corridor, "because, I don't. She knew after last night how much danger she and Daniel were in. Something must have made her leave him, leave her hiding place. I met with her. I don't think she'd leave Daniel alone."

"Or someone could have sent a message to her; maybe Snape himself? Maybe he contacted her," Ron added. Harry shook his head in disagreement. "He would be the last person to contact her, or try to contact her. Know one knew where they had gone."

"You really think ol' Snape will take care of Hermione?" Ron asked.

"There's still one Horcrux to find, Ron. If Hermione and Snape have one, then there's one more unaccounted for."

Ron stood at the entrance to the Gryffindor Common Room and counted on his fingers; "No, there isn't Harry; diary, ring, locket, snake and whatever Snape and Hermione have; the last is inside him." He was mumbling. "What's left then Harry? Oh, yeah, you're right. I still need one more."

"The cup; Hufflepuff's cup," Harry shrugged and then climbed through the Griffindor portrait door. "I have no idea where to look so I might as well help Daniel out."

"Yeah, I guess," Ron said, following behind him.

The room was empty except for the small boy asleep on the sofa in front of the fireplace.

"I hate to wake him, Harry," Ron said standing over him.

"He'd hate it if we left him out," was his reply. "I know, I would have. He didn't take a train all the way from London to end up waiting for someone to save his mother for him."

Daniel opened his eyes and nodded. "I would have gone looking for her with or without you."

…

Snape stood in front of a large cemetery monument, arms crossed, glaring at her. She was being stubborn.

"No. Once again, no. I will not tell you anything until you give me the Medal back." Hermione was saying."We will do this together or not at all." She was standing on a large granite stone in order to be eye-to-eye with him. Her jaw was set and she was returning his frown.

"I've lived fifteen or so years without a woman in my life and now I seem to have too many," Snape growled.

"Why did you need me beside you in order to see your mother? An innocent as you say. What did you expect to happen?" Hermione asked, head thrown back, spiteful. "You knew she'd try and enter my mind, and rape me- as you said. How would that have helped? I feel like I was a sacrifical lamb." She placed her hands on her hips and glared. "You owe me an explanation and I will have it before I leave you."

"I warned you." Snape growled again under his breath. "Fine!" He handed the box over to her. "Can you really remember everything you see?" he asked.

She accepted and nodded. "Yes."

"What class did Morilla teach before she taught potions?" Snape asked.

"What's this, Twenty Questions?" she stated firmly.

Snape did not understand the muggle reference.

"What I mean is…" Hermione dropped the box in her robe pocket and thought for a moment. "Yes, I remember everything I saw in her mind, your life spent with her, all of it. I know she taught Muggle Studies prior to being the Potions teacher at Hogwarts. Which, I find extraordinarily strange." Hermione jumped down from the stone. "I saw the men she murdered, including your father. Should I go on?"

Snape was now looking down at her. He was angry.

"I'm not going to discuss any of it with anyone. Not ever!" She said. "We are wasting time."

"Were you being truthful?" he asked. "You know how to destroy them?"

"I don't but your mother does," she said, finally "But I know where she's going. Shall we go?"

He nodded and strode out of the cemetery ahead of her.

"Are you going to give me a clue as to where we are going, Miss Granger?" he asked, walking quickly down the street in front of the Potter house and outpacing her. She had to trot alongside him to keep up.

"It's time you took my arm, Mr. Snape." She stopped mid-stride and held out her arm. He walked two more paces before stopping and turning back to her.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

Georgia Mason touched the doorknob to the house to see if it was locked. She was not used to being in Muggle London and particularly alone in a poorer part of town. She hesitated and then twisted the knob and found it unlocked, the door swinging open into darkness.

Lighting her wand, she let it guide her into the austere hallway. She knew no one was home; the house felt empty and had been empty for some time. Sighing, with relief, she moved on into the house studying the layout as she went. She knew Severus to be a frugal man, although he had the wealth from his family, he had never used it. So she was not surprised to discover that his home was furnished with only bare necessities, besides his beloved books, which lined the walls of his sitting room.

She walked further into the house, examining the small kitchen area, an empty spare bedroom and his bedroom, the one with a simple cot and a wardrobe to store his belongings. There was a narrow stairway that led to an attic room and she looked up and saw the door closed.

She made a cup of tea and sat waiting, worried about leaving Daniel alone and about meeting a stranger, but she felt she had few options. The money Hermione Granger was to bring her would be the only thing that could really protect her, since she had spent the last of what she had moving to Hogwarts and setting Daniel up with his books and robes for school. Even now she had nothing to pay the landlord at the Inn where they stayed and although it bothered her considerably to take money from a man she hadn't seen in twelve years, Severus was still Daniel's father. They would have to work out their relationship, if there was to be one, after he was finished with disposing of Voldemort.

Disposing, such a terrible word,she thought_. _Killing. That was what he had to do. He'd already killed Dumbledore. How many others, she wondered. He was not the man she had known. And yet, he was better- stronger- not as timid and afraid as he was when he was young. So much time had passed that she wasn't sure he was being honest about still loving her although he sounded genuine. It was something she was constantly thinking about. She felt she had never stopped caring about him, but she wasn't sure if she still loved him. There was so much pain surrounding their last meeting years ago.

Georgia was not blind to the issues surrounding the dark wizard Severus was hunting. She could read the papers and she could hear the rumors of a war that was more than likely to begin soon; one that Severus would be in involved in. It had frighteningly come too close to home since the connection between Daniel and Severus had easily been made. Now Severus was being hunted as the murderer of Dumbledore. It all felt too unreal. She sat thinking about the issues and grew impatient. The girl was suppose to arrive sharply at eight o'clock and it was long past that.

And then a cryptic message had arrived from Severus;

_STAY. DON'T LEAVE. SOMEONE WILL BE IN CONTACT SOON. S., _

and she had stayed, sleeping on his sofa and waking to the dawn even more worried than before. She heard steps in the hallway and rose to greet Hermione only to be confronted by a man pointing his wand at her.

"Who…who are you," she gasped, unable to reach the wand tucked in her waistband. Her heart beat in panic.

"Is there anyone here besides you?" he asked.

"He's gone," she answered, "Severus is gone. He wasn't here when I got here and I don't expect him."

The man nodded and walked further into the room. His eyes shifted back and forth surveying the adjoining rooms, stopping to listen and then taking one more step.

"I can't tell you where he's at," she said, standing firm, holding herself erect, trying to look courageous.

"I'm not here to hurt you," the man said. "Snape sent me. He's been delayed and he knew you would worry. I am a friend."

Georgia stepped back into the room and moved slowly to the fireplace where ashes were still warm and smoke curled lazily up the chimney. The light of day leaked through heavy curtains and barely illuminated the murky the room.

"I would have thought Severus wouldn't have any friends left right now, given the fact he's been proclaimed a murderer."

The pale, disheveled man nodded and dropped into a chair and put his wand away. "You would be right about that. I can hardly believe what I heard myself, but I trust Miss Granger to tell me the truth, IF, she is not being held hostage by Snape." He was looking at the library shelves and appeared exhausted. "And I hardly think she is given the message she sent." He rubbed his face and stared into the dull red embers of the fire.

Georgia sat down to face him. "She was to meet me here, on an errand for Severus."

Remus nodded. "To bring you some galleons, yes, I know. But she's been delayed, and she is with Snape and I am here to make sure you and Daniel are protected. I want you to fetch Daniel and go with me to a safe house."

Georgia studied the man before her. "I hope you'll forgive me, but I don't know you, I don't trust you and I won't tell you where Daniel is until I do."

Remus nodded. "That's fair Madam Mason, but we have very little time. The Death Eaters will most certainly look here for Snape, not that I think they are looking for him yet. But they will. Since I was asked to protect you I would feel bad if you were harmed. Believe me, any of these dark wizards are quite capable of hurting or killing you. And I wouldn't have even bothered with this task except that Harry Potter is important and dear to me; Hermione is close to him, a friend of his, and she has asked this of me: therefore…. ." He shrugged in his coat which he had yet to remove. "SO. What is it going to take for you to trust me?"

Georgia sighed deeply. "I don't know. I don't know what to think. Severus told me to trust no one."

Remus nodded. "The Dark Lord won't be looking for Severus but he will be looking for you. The minute you arrived at Hogwarts and the resemblance between your son and Severus was noted, the word spread. You would be a important pawn in his chess game if he could acquire you and Daniel. From what I know, Snape has been playing both sides of the fence and its been a miracle that he's not been caught out long ago. However, I think the Dark Lord will once again question his loyalties. It would put us all in danger for the Dark Lord to have a hostage like you. Severus has a great deal of information in that brain of his about the people close to me; people on our side."

She remained unmoved by his words, stealthily reaching for her wand.

"Very well," he leaned forward. "I'm not a friend to Snape, but I am not his enemy either. We went to Hogwarts together as children and we weren't on friendly terms then. Through the years, that's become less important. What is important is that I believe that Severus is working for our side. I don't have to like him to help him, for Harry's sake. I can't force you to come with me."

"I can protect myself," she said, slowly drawing her wand out to point at him.

He saw the wand and raised his hands, "There's no need for that. I'll leave if you insist, but you cannot protect yourself against these evil wizards; not alone. They are extraordinarily skilled in the dark arts and they outnumber you."

He sat still, waiting. The silence grew in the room. "I knew you once, Georgia," he said.

She studied his tired, pale face. She didn't recognize him.

"You didn't tell anyone that I was a werewolf when you found out," Remus said, crossing his legs and sitting back in the chair as if ready for a long chat.

Georgia relaxed a little until she was overcome with the surprise of recognition. "We were thirteen years old! We shared a desk in Potions Class!" She gasped, caught herself laughing. "You're Remus Lupin."

Remus smiled. "Yes, in the flesh. There were very few children at Hogwarts who would have anything to do with me. You were kind when others couldn't bring themselves to even talk to me. I wasn't aware that you knew Severus back then."

Georgia nodded and shrugged. "I knew him but he didn't know I existed. He cared about another girl. You knew her, Lily Evans and their friends Potter, and Black. You were all very popular at school."

Remus stared at her and remained silent.

"Everyone pretty much knew you were a werewolf, Remus," Georgia said, getting up, setting her wand aside. "There wasn't anyone to tell. I wasn't being extraordinarily kind. It was all so very long ago." Georgia stood and rested her hand on the fireplace mantel, staring into the embers. She was regretting the decision to return to Hogwarts, a place where she had experienced both good and bad things typical of a teenager's life. All things that she thought were long since forgotten.

"You're wrong Georgia," Remus said getting to his feet. "I knew Snape then and now. It would take a saint to put up with that man. Now, we need to leave."

Georgie studied the man who remained seated. "Alright. But I really don't have any funds to pay for shelter or for traveling anywhere. I was waiting for Miss Granger to bring some to me."

Remus waved his hand. "I'll take care of that. A friend of mine died not to long ago and left me with money."

"I don't…." she began and then heard a noise from the front hall. They both stood and faced the dark doorway.

….

Snape and Hermione stood in the moon-shade of towering elm trees. They were on an avenue where there were no street lamps. In front of them was a monstrous stronghold; a castle looming over them from a hill above the street.

"Where are we?" Hermione whispered in surprise.

Snape stood staring at the castle and seemed to shrink slightly. "It is the family home."

"Wow," Hermione managed.

He turned to her. "This is where she came? You're sure?"

"It was in her mind Professor Snape or I wouldn't have been able to bring you here." What she wanted to add was how obvious it was. "Will you tell me now?"

"Tell you what?" he asked so softly she almost didn't hear the words.

"What makes your mother so dangerous? I'd….like to know so I can protect myself…if we have to go up there and I should meet her." She stared at the steep road that wound its way up to the ancient gate.

"You don't have to go up there, Miss Granger. Give me the box and I will go up alone. Go back to Hogwarts."

"I'm afraid I can't do that, Mr. Snape." Hermione wrapped her fingers around her wand and waited. "I have a responsibility to Harry."

"Very well," he sighed. "I 'll send a message to Georgia so she won't worry at your absence." He raised his wand.

"Mr. Snape! Perhaps you should send an envoy to her so she and Daniel can be taken somewhere safe. You can't be sure you're home is not being watched by the Ministry."

He nodded. "Yes, you're right. I've forgotten that I'm a wanted man." He stood without moving as if the castle above them had him mesmerized into inaction.

"Remus Lupin," she said quietly. "Send for him. I'll explain what needs to be done. He'll do it because I ask it of him."

Snape frowned at her and waved his wand suddenly sending a golden stream of letters flying off into the night like sparks from a silent firecracker. "I will wait at the entrance for you." He turned and quickly walked down the road, disappearing into the dark.

Ten minutes later Remus Lupin stood before her on the road. "Hermione what on earth are you doing here?"

She took another ten minutes telling him what she had experienced in the past twenty-four hours and giving him instructions.

"Horcruxes!" he gasped. "What the devil!"

She nodded. "Yes. I have one in my pocket."

"Good grief!" He shuddered and turned to gaze at the castle. "And Madam Prince is up there?"

"Yes." Hermione said. "Remus can you tell me why she's so dangerous. Do you know?"

"She is a metmorphmagus, Hermione. She's been registered since birth, like Tonks."

"And that makes her dangerous?"

"She's much more skilled than Tonks, Hermione. She can completely change her appearance and…she's insane," Remus said, quietly. "She committed some terrible crimes years ago and was sent to Azkaban. It took a long time to find her and she left a trail of dead Aurors before she was caught. I thought she was still there."

"Actually, Remus, she's been in a private sanitorium," Hermione said. "Dumbledore and Mr. Snape put her there. She escaped this evening."

"Hermione this is terribly dangerous," Remus said, grabbing her arm. "Let me get some help and I'll go with you."

"What you can do is protect Madam Masion. You and I know that Harry's going to go after the last Horcrux, if he can find it. It's more important to take care of him. If Georgia Mason or Daniel get into trouble he'd feel obliged to go rescue them. You know it and I know it. He is my best friend but he just does not get how important he is."

"Your important too, Hermione. I can't let you sacrifice yourself."

"Remus, trust me," she shook his hand loose. "Mr. Snape will take care of me."

"Hermione…." He shook his head in frustration. "I'm not sure that's true, besides…"

"We have no choice," she said and backed away. "GO to her and make sure she's safe. I'll be back at Hogwarts by morning. Hopefully I'll have an idea about how to destroy them. Don't tell Harry what I'm doing." She walked away and her "Thanks," drifted back on the evening breeze.


	10. Chapter 10

My apologies to my readers. I uploaded this chapter prematurely before it was edited and included essential material. So I am reloading a new version of this chapter. Thank you for your interest in this story. Natasha

Chapter 10

Hermione was at the top of the long drive when she realized she still had the vial filled with the antidote for lycanthropy. She wished she had had the presence of mind to tell Lupin about it before he left, but there had been so much on her mind.

Her's was filled with the images and thoughts of the woman and she was trying to sort through it all so she could find some useful information. It wasn't like reading a book where you could look up information in the contents or index and have it all sorted alphabetically.

There was ancient information the woman had gleaned from years of potion-making and learning dark magic. It felt like an old blood stain on her brain; it felt ugly. There were also the woman's crazy thoughts; her paranoia, her grandiosity to wade through and a backlog of memories.

One thing that stood out amongst the ubiquitous thoughts were those of her son, Severus Snape. The woman thought about him at a much earlier time in his life, and even given the fact she was crazy, there were still some feelings for her son; albeit homicidal ones. His mother hated him to the core, and for good reason. He was the only one who had any control over her and had kept her from making many people her victims. Hermione hurried up the curving road towards the ancient castle.

Snape wasn't at the entrance when she arrived. It was a huge oak double door with rusted iron hinges and a door lock comparable to the ones on Hogwarts gates. However, she didn't have to worry about trying to open the massive doors because they were already open. She peeked into a dark so dense it felt solid. There was no light to illuminate the interior and she hesitated to light her wand out of fear Morilla Prince would find her before she could find Snape.

She stepped into the dark, walking very slowly in hopes she would hear something that would give away his position. She walked through a foyer with inch deep dust on the marble floor and made no sound, her breathing muffled by the large space.

Her heart very nearly went through the floor when a hand reached out and grabbed her from a doorway she had not even been aware of. Snape had his hand over her mouth and was whispering in her ear. "Be very quiet, Miss Granger. We do not want to meet up with this monster unexpectedly. Stay back now and wait for me."

Hermione shivered at his words but managed to nod. He turned her loose and she felt him step past her out into the open midnight blackness. They had made no plans and she had no idea how he intended to proceed. She didn't understand why Morilla Prince had come back to her ancestral home. It was obvious from the very short time she had been in the woman's mind that Madam Prince wanted to run as far away from her prison as she could, but something drew her to this place.

The woman had no human emotions left; no conscience, guilt, regret, love or fear, but she was full of cruelty and hate. Having a brilliant mind and subjected to years in Azakaban and afterwards in a private hospital had been the factor which had torn the woman's mind loose from its moorings. And yet, she'd lost none of her intelligence, in fact, had grown even more crafty and sly.

Hermione understood only a portion of what she'd encountered in the woman's brain. She'd told Snape his mother knew how to destroy the Horcruxes. She had taught Riddle how to make them back in the days when he attended Hogwarts and she was a teacher there. Hermione had always thought it was Slughorn who'd dropped the ball and given the information to Riddle. It was what Harry had seen in the Pensive. Dumbledore had been on the wrong path in seeking the information from the man.

Hermione couldn't glean the details from the woman's mind, because her own had been dominated by the far superior intellect. She might, given enough time, scrape away all the extraneous information to learn the facts, but she wasn't sure they had that kind of time. Morilla Prince knew about Daniel and Georgia Mason, about Harry and more particularly about Voldemort and what he had become. And in that dark fathomless pit of a mind Hermione heard the gleefulness and joy Madam Prince felt about the news.

Curiously, Voldemort didn't interest her much. He was an obstacle to everyone but her because he didn't seem to present a threat to her. Hermione's impression from the brief encounter told her Morilla Prince wanted one thing and one thing only, and that was Daniel.

Hermione listened as hard as she could in the dark, holding her breath, pressed against a cold marble wall. She couldn't grasp how Snape was managing to find his way around in the absolute pitch blackness of the main hallway, other than the fact it had been his home at one time.

Suddenly, there was hissing in the darkness.

And then there was a horrendous growling, strangled howling sound erupting in front of her and sounds of a struggle. She was frozen in fear, unable to move and afraid to make a sound. She needn't have been afraid of making noise since the screeches and growls in front of her were ear piercing and drowning out even the strangled cries of the man she knew to be Snape.

And then there was a silence.

Hermione waited breathlessly, feeling horribly vulnerable in the dark. There was nothing to hear and nothing to see and she had no idea if she were in danger. She finally pointed her wand and said "LUMOS" very softly. She almost dropped it when she saw the scene before her.

There was a large black panther with very green eyes staring back at her. The mouth of the great cat was latched onto the throat of the man who lay beneath it. They were both covered in dust so that at first glance they presented a diorama of muted grayed-out colors much like two ghostly statutes. Hermione could see the white canines as the cat curled back its lips. It had not bitten through Snape's neck but he was helpless in Morilla's grasp.

"Don't…don't," Snape managed to say before the teeth tightened. His hand came up as if to stop her from trying to curse the cat.

Hermione was momentarily taken back by Snape's precarious situation and confused about whether she should try and stun the cat or not move. Before she could utter a word, the panther sprang at her and took her to the ground, the power and weight of the beast easily overwhelming her. She felt nothing else, not even when the teeth sank into her shoulder and began to pull her up the stairs towards the towers of the big castle in a straddling waddle so indicative of a great cat hauling its' catch away.

Snape lay in the dark, bleeding, but not dying. He struggled to his knees and then his feet, hand on throat, moving up the stairs and in a dazed shuffling, stumbling walk followed the dreaded woman he called his mother.

…

Harry, Ron and Daniel arrived at the Inn just before midnight. The streets were empty and there was no traffic. A heavy fog churned in the empty streets and buildings were beginning to lose shape in the dimness.

"We can't go in looking like this," Harry said, glancing up and down the street. He'd forgotten to change his Hogwarts robes for muggle street clothing. "I'm not as good as Hermione at transfiguration but I'll try not to turn you into a rat." He waved his wand over Daniel and was satisfied to see that it was effective. He changed Ron and then himself.

"Harry, why don't I go in first and you and Daniel wait out here," Ron said, studying the entrance to the Inn. "I'll see if anybody's been asking after Madam Mason and Daniel just to be on the safe side.

"That's good, Ron," Harry said. "We'll go off here and stay in the shadows and wait for you."

"My mom should be back by now," Daniel said. "Perhaps you should leave a message at the desk."

Ron nodded. "Yeah. Be back in five."

"Ron!" Harry stopped him. "Don't leave our names, just in case we're being watched or followed. Just enough information for her to know Daniel is safe."

Ron nodded and walked across the street and went in without turning around. Harry pulled Daniel into an alley and kept watch.

Ten minutes later Ron stepped back out and hurried across the street. "She's not come back yet, Harry."

"You see," Daniel said. "She left me last night and she's not been back. Something has happened to her."

"What do you think, Harry?" Ron stood watching the street. "What do you suppose we should do?"

Harry groaned inwardly. He would have preferred to be by himself at the moment but knew Ron and Daniel would never allow him to go it alone. "Perhaps it'd be best to take Danial back to Hogwarts. If Hermione is back she can tell us where Snape is."

Ron was nodding when he suddenly shoved Harry against the brick wall of the alley and pushed Daniel behind him. He was looking over Harry's head at the street with a finger to his lips.

Harry turned to study the street and kept a hand on Daniel's shoulders. There were two figures who apparated in the avenue underneath a tree. They were walking very slowly towards the Inn. One of them was a woman.

"It's mum!" Daniel whispered frantically struggling to get around Harry.

"Shh, she's with someone and we don't know who," Harry whispered holding him back.

The couple drew closer and the faint light on the sign of the Inn illuminated the faces.

"Remus!" Harry gasped and gave the two in the street a start. "I didn't expect to see you! Sorry, we've been looking for Madam Mason. He stepped out into the walkway.

"Daniel!" Georgia said, quietly as they gathered in a group. "What happened? Mr. Potter why are you here? Is it Severus? Has something happened to him? To your friend, Hermione?"

"I was about to ask the same question," Remus said.

"Daniel came to Hogwarts and asked for my help to find you," Harry said. Ron came out from the shadows.

"Good, we've got you two together," Remus said, sounding relieved. "Let's get on to Number twelve Grimmauld Place. You'll be safe there. Harry, I suggest you and Ron go back to Hogwarts."

"What about Hermione, Remus?' Harry asked. "She and Snape are alone."

Remus nodded. "Leave it to me, Harry. I'll go back and see what's become of them."

Harry shook his head. "I trust you Remus, but you are one man, alone. Ron and I will go with you. We'll make sure Madam Mason and Daniel are safe and then we'll go. There's something we have to take care of."

"This is not the place to discuss this Harry," Remus groaned looking around them at the empty street." Five of them were quite conspicuous standing on the street in the dark.

"I won't let you go alone," Harry answered and Ron stood resolutely by him.

"I know what it is you're trying to do, Harry," Remus whispered. "Hermione and Snape intend to destroy_ it_. If you are going to join me we must hurry if we wish to be of any help. I wouldn't even consider having you along but I think they are really in grave danger."

"My dad is in danger?" Daniel asked. "I want to go."

"No!" Georgia pulled him to her and knelt. "There is nothing you can do. WE must go into hiding until we can be sure that we're safe." She glanced up at Remus. "Let's get on with it if we're going to this house."

They disapparated.

Twenty minutes later Harry, Ron and Remus were in one corner of the sitting room talking in whispers and Georgia was in the kitchen looking for something to prepare for a meal. Daniel was supposed to be in one of the bedrooms above, instead he stood in the hallway his back pressed against the wall listening to what they were saying.

"Harry they can't hope to destroy a Horcrux," Remus was saying. "I know very little about them but this is folly to chase after Snape. Besides he can take care of himself. I'll go and find Hermione. You stay here. There is no reason to risk losing either of you."

"It's all we've got, Remus," Harry argued. "You know what I must do. I have to try and kill Him and I can't do it as long as they exist. I destroyed one, the diary, with a basilisk tooth. So we know they are destructible. Now we're wasting time. Are you going to take us to where Hermione and Snape are?"

Remus nodded and headed out the door to the hallway. Daniel slid into the shadows. "I need to speak to Madam Mason and let her know someone will be back within twenty-four hours to see to them." He left and Ron followed him in search of a meal.

Harry stepped out into the hall and hesitated, glancing around. "I know you're there Daniel."

The boy came out into the gas light. He looked scared and worried. "How did you know I was here?"

Harry smiled. He remembered what he had done when he was this age and he didn't blame the boy for wanting to know what was happening. He also remembered when Remus had been kind to him and treated him as an equal. There were very few people in his life that had done the same for him.

He ushered him to the stairs and sat down and patted the step next to him.

"You're worried about your dad and you want to help," Harry said. "In time you might have the skills to face some of these people, but not now. You can best help by protecting your mother."

The boy didn't speak, his head was down and Harry could sense by the slope of the shoulders he was upset.

"Will you go back to Hogwarts for me?" Harry asked. "If I promise to send you messages about your dad and let you know that he's alright, would you do it then?"

Daniel looked up. "Would you?"

Harry nodded.

"I don't want him to die," he said. "The other kids at school didn't like him much, you know. They talked about him all the time,then he murdered Professor Dumbledore."

"Killed him, Daniel, not murdered," Harry said refreshing his memory. "And you know why. If anything happens to me or your father then you are the only one who can clear your father's name. Believe me. I had no father growing up and I learned from others that he was not always a nice man either." Harry didn't mention it was Snape who had pointed it out to him many times. "I had to learn the truth because it was important to me. I'm not saying anything is going to happen to him, but do you want people to go on believing your father was a murderer even after he is gone?"

There were tears in the boy's eyes. "I wanted him to be a nice man. Mother would never talk about him and I thought he would be sort of like….you, brave and…heroic." The boy blushed and dropped his head.

Harry covered a smile and waited and then shrugged. "You don't know him yet. He has fought many hard battles. Sometimes we aren't considered to be very nice people when we have to do things we don't want to do." Harry watched the boy. "What difference does it make what others think? What do you think?"

"He was nice to me," Daniel said.

"Go on back upstairs," Harry said, patting his shoulder. "Someone will come by to take you back to Hogwarts."

Daniel slipped up the stairs and Harry watched.

…

"Snape's family home?" Remus nodded as they readied themselves at the front door. "It's a castle on the east shore not far from Godrick's Hollow."

"Blimey!" Ron snickered. "He come's from a bloody rich family hasn't he. But if I'm right and I think I know which one you're talking about then it isn't called Snape's castle has it Remus?"

Remus shook his head. "I believe his mother's side of the family owned it. Now shall we go?" They moved to the street and disapparated. Daniel slowly stepped out into the dark street, alone in the dark with only the noise of distant traffic giving him company.

…

Hermione woke in the dark, lying on a cold stone floor. She mentally examined herself and decided she felt no pain although she did feel stiff. She listened intently trying to gauge if the panther was still with her in the room or if the transformed woman was nearby. She could hear haggard breathing and then there was a groan and a whisper, but it was a male voice

"Georgia, I tried to protect you," Snape's voice said. "I tried to keep the demons from you. I promise I will find you, if I have to search until I take my last breath."

"Mr. Snape?" Hermione whispered. "Mr. Snape?" She clawed around on the stone floor searching desperately for her wand and found it not far from her, abandoned. Gasping with relief she said NOX and lit the room. They were in a cell of sorts, much like a dungeon cell with iron bars on the door. Snape was lying in a corner, his robes shredded. There was a dark crimson substance staining his neck and shirt; it was blood.

Hermione rose to go to him and found her leg chained to the wall. She pulled it as far as it would reach and knelt beside him. "Mr. Snape, you're hurt." She shone the light on him and his dark eyes turned to her, but there was no recognition. She studied the wound on his neck and looked over the rest of his body. The wounds were superficial and had bled for awhile and then stopped. She knew very little of battle-field medicine and wished she'd taken the time to read one or two books about taking care of the wounded.

"Mr. Snape, it's Hermione Granger."

He frowned at her and looked around the room and stirred a little, glancing down at his blood-soaked clothes. He sighed and leaned against the wall. "She has captured us?"

Hermione nodded and looked at the chain around her ankle. She held her wand out, concentrating and tried to unlock it. She failed.

"A simple spell like that won't unlock it," Snape said.

"Do you know one that will?" she asked sarcastically.

He shook his head and moved his legs, He was also chained. "Madam Prince is unlikely to be careless about such things."

"Are you hurt badly?" Hermione asked.

He shook his head and yet let out a small groan when he moved again.

Hermione reached over and pulled his coat away and pulled the shirt away to expose his skin. He didn't stop her, but stared at her with his dark eyes. She wasn't certain if he wasn't in shock. "Why didn't she kill us?"

He shrugged and then winced as she dabbed at the wounds with a cloth torn from her own shirt. She managed a spell to produce water and this helped to wash away the grime so that she could better see. He, once again, did not stop her and she continued talking as she worked.

"She doesn't want me dead," he explained. "I am sure I am bait for a trap. I don't why she left you alive. Perhaps she thought you meant something to me."

Hermione glanced up, not missing the point he was making. "Will you explain?" She asked. He frowned. "Back there in the asylum did you really intend to let Malfoy kill her?"

"I will answer your question, if you tell me how you stopped her legilimency," he replied and stopped her hand as she wiped at the wounds. "Let this be. I am fine."

"You'll need a med-witch to attend to those soon." She dropped the bloody rag and wiped at her hands. She sighed, kneeling on her knees, hands in her laps and stared at him for a trime. Then she said, "I concentrated on the book Hogwarts: A History and it seemed to bore her."

He stared at her once again with a slight squint of curiosity. "You have read Hogwarts: A History?"

"Yes," she said, praying he would not make a snide remark. She had never told anyone about her eidetic memory and the books she read because she feared they would not believe her or worse. She didn't want them to make fun of her.

"And you remember it?" he asked.

"Yes."

"All of it?"

"Yes." They were both silent for awhile. "Will you tell me then?" she asked.

He leaned his head against a wall. "She dabbled in the dark arts when she was a teacher at Hogwarts. When you do that, sometimes things go wrong. It affected her." He stared at her. "She became quite evil. A kind of evil that is unfathomable. She has no feelings, no emotion, no empathy. She kills at will and without remorse and she is entertained by it. She began practicing human sacrifice." He stopped and stared at her. "However, I think she would have been satisfied just to have an opportunity to glean some information from your mind. I wasn't aware there would be so much for her to gain." He shrugged again, aware of his insult to her.

"Was I to be her victim then?" Hermione asked, astonished. "Was I bait?"

"She would not have killed you, of that I was certain. She's been there for too many years and I made sure she received no news from the outside world. I thought you would be relatively safe."

"Did you intend to let Malfoy kill her?"

"No, Miss Granger, I am not a killer and he would not have done so without my agreeing to it. If I had intended to kill her I would have done it years ago, but I didn't realize she had slipped the mental restraints placed on her. A great deal of time and energy was put into the peculiarities of her imprisonment so she couldn't do what she ended up doing."

"She…" Hermione bit her lip and frowned in concentration, "she had very confused thoughts. I mean…" she glanced at him. "I was busy trying to keep my mind impenetrable so I felt only shadows of her thoughts. It was obvious she was insane. She didn't realize time had gone by and she was not in the present. If she took away anything from my mind, I believe it would confuse her, particularly because I am muggle-born. But…" she stopped, hesitating.

"What?" he asked, his eyes turned to her, piercing.

"Her thoughts about the Dark Lord," she said, "She….was surprised at his power, his greediness. Anyway she took the Medal. It's gone from my pocket. Do you think she'll go to him?"

He shook his head again. "I don't think so. If she wanted to go to him she would not have come here. There is something drawing her back to this place. She might be holding onto the Horcrux to use against him in some way."

"Why didn't she become as powerful as Vol…as Him?" she stuttered. "If you say she is so evil, and she is so skilled in the dark arts, why didn't she become stronger?"

"I persuaded Albus Dumbledore to stop her before that happened," he mumbled. "It took both of us to incarcerate her, something he was not inclined to do with Tom Riddle, although I warned him many times something should be done before he became stronger."

Hermione sat back and leaned against the wall. They sat close together. "Why did she leave my wand? Did she leave yours?"

He reached inside his cloak and nodded. "Yes, she did."

"Why didn't she take it?"

"She doesn't fear you or me. It seems we are no match for her. Miss Granger," he sighed. "I am tired and I need my energy to concentrate. Can we leave these questions until later?"

"I learned some things while she was probing my mind which might interest you," she said, lightly.

"Pray tell," he said tiredly and closed his eyes.

"She was interested in getting to Hogwarts so that she could kill Dumbledore…" she hesitated again.

He shrugged. "Hogwarts. She can't get into Hogwarts."

She nodded. "Good…that's good. Like I said, she is unaware of the passage of time it seems. The Horcrux is of little consequence to her, I think."

He remained still but she knew he was listening. "It's good Daniel and Madam Mason are gone from Hogwarts even if she can't get in." she added.

"What are you not saying?" Snape came to attention. "There is something you're not saying about Georgia and Daniel."

"She remembers Georgia Mason from earlier, when you were together eleven years ago. She sees her as a rival for your affections. Although that's a little strange since she also wants to kill you. But like I said she is insane…."

Snape jerked spasmodically and stared off into space, his face frozen in worry.

"That's why you left her wasn't it. You didn't want your mother to harm her."

"This is intolerable!" he mumbled and struggled to move. "Is that all? Are you done prying into my personal life, Miss Granger? Or do I have to learn about it every time you open your mouth."

"You didn't kill your father," she said, quietly. "She made it look like you did and left you to face the consequences."

He glared at her, struggled to his feet and withdrew his wand. After several attempts he was unable to free himself and turned to hit the wall with his fists, finally leaning into it.

"I've watched a few movies on TV where they chip away at the wall around the chains." Hermione said, watching him. " Perhaps we can try to free ourselves that way."

He turned to her. "Movies? TV?"


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Hermione's idea proved fruitless. Nothing penetrated the stone around the chains which held them. "We've got to find a way out of here and get to Madam Mason and Daniel. Madam Prince wants Daniel for some reason." She was actually mumbling to herself but Snape had been listening. When she mentioned Daniel he opened his eyes and stared up at her.

"Daniel? Why does she want him?" he asked.

Hermione stared down at him and frowned. "I don't know Mr. Snape. I don't understand what she was thinking. She…." She glared at the wall in front of her trying to make sense of what she had seen on the woman's mind. "I'm afraid she learned of his existence through me. However, that is hardly my fault is it? If you had warned me…." she left off and studied the wall before her, her mind elsewhere. "She has the Horcrux, too." She rubbed her temples with her hands, frowning into the distance. "She seemed to think Daniel had some special gift. Does he?" She turned to him.

Snape's eyes widened his pupils so dilated his eyes looked completely black. If she hadn't known better she would have guessed he was a vampire.

"Anyway, I think we should find him and make sure he's safe," she mumbled, slightly frightened by the look on his face.

He nodded, attempted to rise but slumped to the floor and into unconsciousness.

Hermione pulled aside Snape's coat and the torn shirt and studied the area once again with her lit wand. It looked very bad and she was not surprised he was unconscious. This time she was astonished to discover something she had not seen before. Tattooed on the upper right side of his torso was the Snape family crest, as she had seen it on Madam Prince's neck in the portrait in the vaults at Gringotts. It was the briar wrapped around the rose.

Of course they were not tattoos in the muggle sense of the word. Like his mothers', they were embedded threads of gold and red and green and various colors of the rainbow so that the sum of the whole looked almost alive. It would not have surprised her if the bud of the red rose had blossomed before her eyes; or, if she had placed her hand on the briar, to have it prick her with real thorns.

She studied this and while she did his eyes opened.

"Where are we?' he gasped, pressing his hand to his wound and covering himself with his torn clothing.

"Still in the depths of the castle," she answered. "We are in the dungeons chained to the wall."

"She knows about Daniel and Georgia?" he murmured.

Hermione nodded again.

"She will use Daniel as a trade if she can."

"A…a trade!" Hermione repeated.

"She'll want Daniel and she has the Horcrux…the Medal," he took a painful breath. "She'll ask for the Dark Lord's help in finding the boy and in return he'll want the Horcrux."

She nodded.

"My loyalty was guaranteed with Albus' death. It may come into question now that Morilla has been in your mind. He will want additional assurances since this is a very dangerous time for him. Two of the Horcruxes have been destroyed. However, he won't hesitate in giving her the boy if she has one of the them."

"He won't kill her?" she asked.

Snape shook his head slowly but remained quiet.

"What will she do with Daniel?" Hermione asked.

He waved his hand feebly, brushing her question aside. "Can you free yourself?"

She shook her head. "But if we are still at your family home, then Remus may find us." She covered him with her cloak and sat back to think. He remained conscious but said nothing.

"What do you think she wanted by coming here?" she asked after a few minutes.

"I don't know," he said, his voice barely above a whisper.

"Why didn't she kill us? She wanted to, you know?" Hermione asked.

He coughed and turned his face away.

"Actually, it's surprising to find anyone that doesn't want to kill you," she mumbled grimly. At this he turned back to look at her once again. "I mean…well. You are a Deatheater, at least in most people's eyes, and you did kill Dumbledore." She dropped her chin on her knees and wrapped her arms around her legs. The dungeon was chilly. "And truth is, although it may sound unkind, you have been a cruel teacher, at least to Harry. Unaccountably so, I should say."

"Are you lovers?" he asked.

Her eyebrows shot almost to her hair line. "No!" She rearranged herself and leaned into the cold stone. "We are friends! We are a little young to be…lovers, aren't we?" She snuffed and continued, "We are friends and we do love each other. WHICH is not the same thing. Since we are being personal here, you should know that Georgia Mason loves you." He didn't answer. "Harry says so. He went to talk to her before meeting you at the Shrieking Shack."

"Is there anything you do not share with one another?" he asked in disgust.

"Mr. Snape. Perhaps it's beyond your understanding," she huffed. "Friends do that kind of thing you know. He has no family to speak of and we are all that he has. He's had a terrible life really. And he's had no parents. I've watched him suffer all these years and yet he is the kindest person I have ever known. If he did not have these terrible troubles…" she shook her head, tears in her eyes. "There's nothing I won't do for him."

"Miss Granger…"

"You might think about calling me, Hermione," she said quietly, trying to calm her voice. "Seems a bit formal to call me anything else given the circumstances in which we find ourselves."

They sat in silence for a long while until Snape broke the silence. "If I don't survive you need to find something."

She was at his side instanteously. "You are not going to die!" She pressed a hand against his wound as if it would help heal it and he stared at her face without emotion.

"I left here after I finished Hogwarts and I left all my personal belongings here; my Hogwarts trunk…" he was struggling with the words but continued. "Lily Potter's wand is in the trunk. You should probably give it to Potter."

She nodded, gravely concerned about his worsening condition. "I'll try and find it."

"There is a journal I kept," he managed. "Make sure Georgia has it. Tell her she must read it."

"I will."

He grabbed her arm, his grip a vise in his spasm of pain. "It will explain…"

"So you did love Lily Potter! Please don't tell me you wrote about your feelings for her," Hermione said, holding his hand which remained fastened to her arm. "Would you confess this to Georgia Mason now? Really, Mr. Snape, sometimes it's kinder not to be honest."

He shook his head weakly and turned loose her arm. "No. It will explain why she must protect Daniel from Morilla."

"Yes, I see. Alright. I will search for it," Hermione said, faintly. "You did love Lily Potter didn't you?"

Snape looked at her and then said, "We were friends Miss Granger. Do you understand?"

Hermione studied him and then nodded. "Yes. I do."

"Tell her, tell Georgia I have always loved her," he mumbled and closed his eyes. "I lived in agony not knowing where she was. Tell her I have loved her to my dying day."

"This will not be your dying day, Mr. Snape!" She rose to here feet and aimed her wand at the cell door shouting out her spell.

The noise had drawn attention. They both heard the sound at the same time.

"Hermione," Remus Lupin called. "Are you down here?"

"Hermione!" Harry called. Their voices were unintelligible as they talked to one another and searched the rooms.

"Here! Here we are Harry," Hermione shouted, pressing herself against the bar. "Hurry. It's Snape. He's badly wounded."

They found her within minutes. Lupin was able to open the doors of the cell, rushed in and bent to his knees beside Snape. He pulled the bloody clothing aside and inhaled in surprised. "Your mother did this to you?" he asked Snape.

Snape nodded.

"Wicked, wicked witch," Lupin said. "How did you ever let her escape?" he said conversationally. "I understand you took Hermione along with you, Severus. You'll have some explaining to do to me about that." He waved his wand over the open wounds and a blue light shimmered from its' tip. "Nasty bites, but you'll live, I think. Luckily, they weren't werewolf bites."


	12. Chapter 12

*I do hope you find the time to leave a note or a review if you find the story enjoyable. it would be appreciated. Natasha

Chapter Twelve

Daniel was the product of a parents of mixed blood. Snape's father was muggle-born and Georgia's mother was of the same background. Georgia met Snape at Hogwarts just after Morilla Prince was captured and imprisoned in Azkaban.

Snape's father was dead and Georgia's mother lived in the muggle world. Her father worked in a little shop in the wizarding world and had abandoned she and her mother years before Daniel was born. She had never gone to see him.

Georgia was raised in the muggle world until she received her letter from Hogwarts and she had gone to the wizarding school against her mother's wishes. While there, she had met Snape who was in the class ahead of her. He had been reclusive and avoided most people and she had not been particularly interested in him. She also was not an exceptional student and got by in most of her classes. She was not a popular girl but had a few close friends. There was nothing about her which would have drawn his attention.

After leaving Hogwarts she was preparing to return to the muggle world to live with her mother when she and Snape had a chance encounter which lead to their living together.

She had always felt they were equally matched. He was obviously socially ill-at-ease, guarded, a wounded man, whose only gift was his exceptional potion-making skills. She knew him to be a kind man although he shied away from revealing his true feelings. His years of being tortured by his parents had forced him to appear callous and uncaring to almost everyone.

She knew he loved Lily Potter. When she died, it was the only time she'd ever seen him show grief. She had cared for him, fallen in love with him and stood by him as he fell into a dark abyss of depression and grief. She had seen the news in the Daily Prophet and knew the cause of his despair. It had hurt her deeply. She left him and returned to live with her mother and give birth to Snape's son.

She felt more at ease in the Muggle world and had come into her own as a woman with some backbone and integrity, no longer dependent and insecure and her magic had grown. She had the skills to teach Muggle Studies at Hogwarts and when Daniel received his Hogwarts letter she knew she could not deny him the life of a wizard. It was obvious to her that he was more gifted than she in magic and although hesitant to return to a world which had brought her so much pain, she wanted this for her son. After almost twelve years she had not expected to have feelings for Snape or even meet him again.

Suffice it to say she was not skilled in defensive magic.

Daniel was aware his grandfather lived and that he was a wizard, although his mother never spoke of him or took him to see the man. He knew, after having snooped through his mother's belongings, where the man lived and he'd had a desire to know him or anyone who could tell him who and where his father was. Now he had found his father and had lost him within the space of a very short time and he could hardly stand the ache it was creating in his heart.

He left Number Twelve Grimmauld Place and stood in the dark looking up and down the street feeling angry and afraid; afraid for his father whom he had just met and angry that everyone would not let him help. He liked Harry Potter who seemed to be the only one who wanted to treat him fairly. He was angry at his mother who wanted to leave Hogwarts and take him away from school. It would be difficult facing people who knew Snape was his father and thought he was a murderer, but Daniel didn't care. He understood what Harry Potter said to him. He knew the truth and he would stand up for his father when the time came. In the meantime, he would refuse to feel shame.

He had heard so many stories about his father it was confusing in his mind and he decided to take Harry's advice and make a decision about him based on what he believed, not in what others told him. In the Shrieking Shack, his father had talked to him and had been very kind.

"Daniel, we don't know one another and I am sorry for that," Snape had said. "If I had known you lived I would have found you. At the time we were fighting the same Dark Lord who threatens us today. I wanted to protect your mother. I feared she would be harmed and…" the man stopped and seemed to be searching for words.

"She left you," Daniel said.

Snape nodded. "I'm afraid I neglected her. She had every right to leave me. But that does not mean we did not love one another. Do you understand?"

Daniel nodded, his heart swelling with hope in his chest. "Do you love her still?"

Snape nodded. "Yes."

"If you kill the Dark Lord will you come back to us. Can we live at Hogwarts?'

Snape looked at him and the hand resting on Daniel's shoulder squeezed it and then dropped away. "I hope it would be so. But you must understand that this wizard is very dangerous. I may not survive this war that is coming. I made a promise to a friend that I would protect her son, Harry Potter. I have kept it all these years. Should I break my promise to her now and abandon this task before me? If I do Daniel, understand that many people will die. I have a chance to stop it from happening."

Daniel thought about it and wanted with all his heart to ask him to break his promise and go away with them, to hide until all of this passed over. "No. Mother taught me we must keep our promises."

Snape nodded solemnly. "It will be difficult for you and your mother. People will say I murdered Dumbledore. They will treat you badly."

"But Harry Potter said you didn't murder him!" Daniel said. "He said you were Dumbledore's friend and you did what he asked. He said you showed courage and you were the bravest man he knew. I don't care what others think…father." Daniel stopped, desperately wanting something but not knowing what it was.

"You must watch over your mother and protect her now," his father said.

Daniel nodded, dropping his head for a moment. "Would you have come to us if you knew where we were?"

The man's hand was on his shoulder once again. "Yes, Daniel. I searched and I couldn't find your mother. If I had known I would have found you and nothing would have kept me away."

Daniel looked into the dark eyes of the man others saw as cruel and mean and evil and he saw what he needed to see. He nodded as if he had gotten the answer he had been seeking all his life.

"Daniel," Snape began. "I must ask you a question. It's important."

"Ok."

"When I was born a design magically appeared on my body. Muggles call it a birth mark. In our world it is much more than that. It is a design of a rose with a thorny briar wrapped around it, buried in our skin."

"I have one, too!" Daniel gasped. When he said it, Snape dropped his head and closed his eyes. "It's…it's on my back. Mother says it's beautiful. She said it was a sign that I was born with magic."

Snape nodded. "Yes. Yes, that's what it means. It also means you were born with special gifts of some kind. I found very early in life that I could do Leglimency. Do you know what that is?"

Daniel nodded. "I've read about it. But I can't do it father. I don't know how."

Snape nodded again and said, almost sighing with his words, "For each person born in our family it is something different."

Daniel thought about it and reached over and took Snape's hand and placed his own smaller one palm-to-palm in it.

"Watch," he said. "I've only been able to do this a couple of times." He looked at Snape's scarred hands and found a fresh wound. He touched lightly and closed his eyes. Within seconds the wound closed and began to heal. Seconds later it was gone and not even a scar remained. The rest of his hand looked as if it too had been freshly scrubbed of all the old battle wounds, even stains from potion making were gone.

"You are a healer!" Snape said, looking him in the face.

"I started doing it when I found a baby bird one day, and then a cat that had a sore on it's back," Daniel said shrugging. "I can do little things. Something bigger ones, like your hand is harder." He shrugged with embarrassment. "And I can do something else. Watch." Like a child who had suddenly found a spotlight shown on him from an important adult Daniel smiled and closed his eyes, still holding on to Snape's hand, he laid his own once again palm down on the bigger hand of his father and waited for a moment.

Snape's eyebrows went up with surprise when Daniel removed his hand and sitting on his palm was the famous potions book, the one Harry Potter had taken and hidden away.

"I find lost things," Daniel said, grinning.

Snape held the book for a moment staring at it in disbelief and then slipped it in his pocket. "That's amazing son. Truly a gift."

"I've found lots of things mother's lost," Daniel said with pride.

Snape nodded and there was a small smile on his lips but a sadness in his eyes. "Now we must go. It is time. I need to speak to your mother."

Daniel felt his sudden happiness ebb and he nodded with understanding. Still, his father had called him 'son' and it seemed to fill the empty spot in his heart.

Now he stood on the dark street, in front of Number Twele Grimmauld Place, and stuck out his wand hand and found the three tier purple Knight bus drawing up beside him in the street. he was determined to make find his father and help himif he could.

"Cool."

…

Georgia Mason set the two bowls of soup on the table and went to find her son. Everyone else had gone and she was anxious, too upset to sit and drink her cup of tea. Severus was missing and the werewolf and the two boys had gone to find him. _Werewolf_, she thought. _I've forgotten what it's like here in this world. Yet, she did remember Remus and trusted him. _

She roamed the halls calling out Daniel's name and became more distraught when she couldn't find him. All alone with no way to contact anyone she grabbed her cloak and left the house. She was on the street for only a few minutes when a lone figure approached her.

"Madam Mason?" the person asked.

"Who…who are you?" she asked, raising her wand.

…

Harry, Ron and Remus helped Hermione and Snape out of the fortress into the fresh air of the moonless night. "Let's get back to Hogwarts," Remus said. He had one of Snape's arms around his neck and was holding him on his feet. "He needs to see Madam Pomphrey."

"Remus, he can't go back there. Professor McGonagall would call the Ministry Auror's and Mr. Snape will be in Azkaban by dawn," Harry said, studying the darkness around them. "He can't go to hospital either."

"Confound it!" Remus said,grimacing at the weight he held. "I'd forgotten."

Ron was holding tight to Hermione and he spoke up. "We could take him home. Mum can tend his wounds and no one will say anything. Hermione and I can apparate ahead and tell them you're coming."

Harry thought about it for a moment and asked, "Your house isn't being watched?"

Ron shook his head. "No. Everyone thinks we've gone off to stay with George and Fred at Diagon Alley. Well. Ginny has, but mum's stayed behind. Refuses to leave you see. But dad put out the word that we've all left."

"I'll apparate with Severus, Harry," Remus said. "Will you go back and tell Georgia and Daniel where we are so she won't worry?"

"Do you think Morilla Prince is still here?" he asked Snape.

The man was barely conscious and could not stand without Lupin's support. He looked up and shook his head.

"Harry," Hermione cut in, whispering. "She's after Daniel. We don't know why but we think she'll trade the Horcrux to Voldemort for his help in finding him. It's best if we make sure he and his mother are safe, and they stay that way."

"So she got the Horcrux," Harry murmured, careful to keep his voice very low.

Hermione nodded. "Sorry. It's my fault. I had it with me when Mr. Snape and I were captured. The good news is I think she knows how to destroy them. She used leglimency on me. Sort of." There was a moment of silence before she continued. "I got a glimpse into her mind while she probed around in mine Harry. I think she'd be willing to destroy the Horcurx or tell us how, for a price. We may not want to pay the price though."

"To find and destroy a Horcrux, Hermione," Ron gasped. "Whatever it is it would be worth it, wouldn't it? I mean really. We'd have the means we've been looking for all along."

"If it meant giving up Daniel…or Georgia Mason to her," Hermione said softly, "Or even Snape to the Dark Lord. What price is too high, Ron?"

Harry stared at her unable to see the expression on her face. They all stood very close together but it was dark. He could hear a hesitation in her voice but had no idea what had happened over the past fifteen or so hours since she had set off to Gringott's Bank.

"Is there a chance we can get it back?" he asked. "Do you think Snape can help?"

"Only he would know," she whispered. "If we don't get him somewhere and tend to his wounds he won't be able to tell us anything."

"Remus?" Harry turned to him. "What's his condition?'

"It's not good Harry," Lupin said shifting his weight. "I did what I could but Hermione is right. I think his wounds have been poisoned in some way. He's pretty much dead weight right now. I think he's lost consciousness. Ron give me a hand. Hermione is going to have to apparate ahead of us."

"Go on then," Harry said. "I will go back to talk to Georgia and Daniel and make sure they are on their way to Hogwarts."

"Harry," Hermione took him aside. "Snape said he left his Hogwarts trunk here after leaving school. He said your mother's wand is in it. Do you want me to come back and look for it?"

"My mother's wand!" he repeated in surprise, wondering how Snape ended up with it. "No. No, Hermione. Go ahead and make sure everything is alright. I don't want you to be here if Madam Prince returns. I'll go to Grimmauld Place and send Daniel and Georgia to the Hogwarts. We'll worry about the wand later."

He waited as Hermione apparated and the other three followed a few minutes behind her.

Harry turned and listened to the night owl hooting in the trees and the crickets and the sounds of small animals moving about in the brush. He wanted to make sure they had not been seen and were alone. He studied the fortress before him, a gloomy dark mass of stone barely visible in the dark night. With a shrug he raised his wand. "Are you a wizard or a muggle, Harry?" he asked himself. "Accio, Snape's Hogwart's trunk." There was a far off tinkling of glass breaking and then a dark object came sailing through the sky and landed with a thunk at his feet, raising a cloud of dust around him.

He stared at it for a moment before waving his wand over it, shrinking it and then picking it up to put in his pocket. He then apparated to Grimmauld Place.

He was in time to see the figure approach Georgia Mason. She stood in the park across the street from the Black mansion her back to the person approaching. She turned, raising her wand, but could do nothing about the green flash of light which struck her. She fell backwards on the concrete walk and the figure vanished.

_"No….NO!" Harry cried and ran across the street. He stared down in horror. Georgia Mason lay before him, eyes wide open in stunned surprise, dead._


	13. Chapter 13

Harry found it difficult to return to Ron's house knowing he was the bearer of bad news. In particular, he did not want to have to be the one to tell Snape about Georgia Mason; and worse, after having searched for Daniel and not finding him, to tell the man that the boy was missing. He knew the wizard who killed Daniel's mother had not kidnapped the boy since Daniel was not present when his mother was slain. Harry surmised it was possible that Daniel had left the house and Georgia was out on the street searching for him. It was the only explanation for her not being inside No.12 Grimmauld Place.

He apparated leaving her body in the drawing room at Sirius' house. He hoped…no…prayed Daniel would not return and find her dead.

He entered his friends house and wondered just how things managed to get so out of control in such a short time. He thought his task was insurmountable in trying to find the Horcruxes, destroy them and kill Voldemort. Now he would be dealing with Snape who was gravely injured and his reaction to the gloomy news; he was also wondering just what he should do to find Daniel. He was worried that hee was fast losing any ally who could help him perform the former tasks. If he lost Snape to grief or anything else, they would all suffer for Harry realized how fully he needed the man's help.

Hermione met him in the kitchen. She saw the look in his eyes and he hated it when he saw the worried expectation in her face. He'd been the one causing that look on too many occasions and he was sick of it. He wished the stormy weather in his life would just let up and give him a reprieve, just for a short time.

"What is it Harry?" she asked.

He told her and she caught her breath in horror. Remus and Ron entered the kitchen as he was explaining what happened. They all stood looking at each other for a minute.

"Could anything else go wrong?" Hermione murmured.

"I'll go and get her body, Harry," Remus said, reaching for his cloak. "He's sitting up and awake but not well. Ron's mother is doing the best she can, but I think we need an antidote for the poison in his wounds. If there was anyone who could make one it would have to be him. He knows more about potions than any of us, so I suggest we see if we can assist him in any way possible.

Harry nodded. "I agree. I need him. Let's hope he's willing to make the potion. I think for sure he'll want to look for Daniel."

"I'll tell him for you, Harry," Hermione offered. "I'll tell him about Georgia and Daniel."

He shook his head. "He already thinks I'm a coward. I need to face him and take whatever he's going to hand out. We have no chance of getting the last Horcruxes without his help. We don't know how his mother will interfere with our job or what will happen if she goes to Voldemort and I think time is running out."

She looked at him and nodded in understanding.

"Bloody awful thing, Harry," Ron said, looking off into the distance. "I'll distract mum and get her away from him. If you need me to fetch ingredients for the potion, just say. In the meantime, while your speaking to him I have something to do and I won't be at it long." He went to the room where Snape lay and coaxed his mother to the kitchen. He whispered to her and then guided her to a chair as she reacted to the news.

Hermione stood watching him, pride filling her face. Mrs. Weasley was reacting with strong emotion and Ron was comforting her. For the first time Harry could remember Ron was acting like an adult in front of his mother and not relying on his older brothers to deal with the situation.

Harry left them and walked into the room. The light from the single lamp was dim. Snape was sitting up in bed, pillows propped behind him. His neck and part of his chest were heavily bandaged and he looked drained of blood. Given all of this, the dark eyes were sharp and he was aware. He gave no hint he was in pain.

"Mr. Snape," Harry said and drew a chair to the bedside. He glanced on the covers and noted the potion's handbook laying in Snape's hands. It was a surprise since the last time he'd seen it was when he'd hidden it from Snape in the Room of Requirement.

"Thought you had lost this, Potter?" Snape said, "It would have been a dark day indeed if that were the case. There is important information in here."

Harry wondered for a moment how the man had come by it and then sat the thoughts aside. It wasn't important.

"Mr. Snape, I hate to be the person who tells you," he said, and took a deep breath. "Unfortunately, I must. I apparated to Grimmauld Place. Madam Mason was outside and someone in a cloak, hiding his face, walked up and used the Ava Kedavra curse on her. She is dead." Harry stopped, allowing the news to be absorbed.

Snape's face was now completely drained of blood and he looked more like a corpse than a living person. The book dropped from his hands and to the covers. "Dead?" he repeated in a raspy voice.

Harry nodded. "Yes. I left her in the drawing room and came here immediately."

"Daniel?" Snape whispered.

Harry shook his head. "He wasn't there. I searched the house. I think he left shortly after we did. Georgia may have been on the street searching for him. I…I don't think she ever really understood how much danger she was in, but I think she would have only made herself vulnerable if she were worried about Daniel. I may be wrong about that. I'm very sorry." It was all he could think to say.

He rose to his feet. "We need to find the ingredients to make an antidote to the poison in the bite wounds in your neck. We'll need your help. I'll give you some time but we must do it soon and you are the only one who can supervise. Hermione is very good at potion-making and I suggest she do it. The sooner you are able to help us the better."

He watched Snape for a minute and then turned and left.

Hermione stood at the door and entered as Harry left. He watched her. Snape's head was down and she went to his bedside and laid a hand on his shoulder speaking to him softly.

Harry sat across from Mrs. Weasley and they stared at one another. She was weeping silently. He didn't know what else to do but wait for Ron and Remus to return.

"I'm sorry we've brought this trouble to you, Mrs. Weasley," he said quietly. "Actually I'm sorry I have ever brought trouble to you and your family. It seems I can't keep it from you no matter how hard I try." He said it with deep sincerity and deep regret.

She wiped her tears and rocked forward in her chair to pat his knee. "I love you like I have loved my own children, Harry. I would do for you what I would do for any of them."

He nodded. "You have been my family from the beginning. I've had no other and it's helped enough to get me through a lot."

She smiled through the tears and then sat back, holding a hand to her chest, looking sad "In case you ever doubt it, just look for yourself." She gestured at the clock which Harry had seen on his first trip to her home. The hands were all pointing to each member of her family indicating they were in peril. There was an additional hand he had never seen before. It pointed to his name.

He caught a sob in his throat and couldn't quite look at her directly for a minute.

"We have a great deal ahead of us Harry," she said. "I think we're better off if we face it and share the risk together as a family."

He dropped his head with gratitude and nodded. Hermione entered the room with a paper in her hand.

"It's a list of ingredients, Harry," she said. There were no tears on her face, just deep sadness.

"How is he?" Harry asked.

"He wants to find Daniel, but he's so weak he can't get out of bed. The sooner we make this potion the better." She handed him the paper.

"Ron's going to fetch whatever we need, but he's gone right now." Harry remained sitting.

Hermione sat beside him, hands clasped together between her knees. "Do you have any idea where we might look for Daniel? Mr. Snape would…" she stopped and glanced a the door to his room, "He might be able to concentrate on what we need to do if he knew Daniel were safe."

"I have no idea, Hermione," Harry said.

She nodded and they sat together while Mrs. Weasley went to the kitchen to make tea and sandwiches. They had all been up for the pasty twenty four hours and they were running on empty. Hermione looked exhausted. She was covered in filth from the dungeons, Snape's blood and her hair was wildly out of control. Harry stared at her and thought he had never seen her look so bad.

"You need to rest," he said.

"So do you, Harry," she said. "I'm good for awhile longer. We must do something about Daniel if we can. Harry… Snape's mother was horrific." Her face scrunched up.

"When you're up to it you'll have to tell me what you learned from her," Harry said.

"Did you find your mother's wand? she asked. I know you went looking for it."

He nodded and withdrew the small trunk from his pocket. She knew what it was immediately. It was in Snape's old Hogwart's trunk.

"You know what that means?" she said.

He shook his head. "No. What do you mean?"

Well Harry, it's your mother's wand," she began. "Since you can't use your own against Voldmort, you might be able to use hers. Some wands accept other family members you know. Do you have it?" She accepted it when he pulled it from his robes. "Do you sense anything?"

"No, Hermione, I don't," he answered, taking it back and holding it in his hands. "It's not important. I'm glad to have it. I've never had anything of hers before." He caressed the wand and held it in the light. "I wonder how he got it?"

"He would have had to been there the night your parents were killed, Harry."

He nodded. "Yeah, you're right. Hermione do you have any idea why Snape's mother wants Daniel?"

She glanced at her dirty hands and rubbed them together nervously. "I think Snape kept Georgia Mason a secret from his mother. Whatever! Not important right now. What is important is that she knows the Medal she took is a Horcrux. She knows what they are and she's not afraid of Voldemort. I think she's going to take to him. That can't be good because it'll be beyond our reach. What I said before is true, I think she would trade it for Daniel."

Harry shrugged. "Might as well not think about it. That won't happen."

She nodded understanding the depth of their dilema.

It was at that moment the door opened and Ron and Daniel came through.

"Ron!" Hermione jumped to her feet and ran to him, one hand reaching for Daniel. The boy was as white-faced as Snape. It was clear Ron had told him about his mother.

"I want to see my dad," he said. Hermione guided him to the door of the bedroom and followed him in leaving Ron and Harry alone.

"How did you ever?" Harry exclaimed.

"He's half muggle. Lived in the muggle world all his life Harry. Just like you. When I saw him the first time yesterday he was at Hogwarts. Said he'd taken a train to Hogsmeade. I figured if he knew he might know about the Knight bus. There's hardly any other way for a kid his age to travel around. He wouldn't know about the Floo Network, just like you didn't. I thought I'd surely be able to track him down." Ron smiled briefly and stared at the door to the bedroom. They heard Daniel's sobs coming from the next room. They stopped for a minute as if the sound had forcefully muted them.

Harry nodded. "Right then, Ron. We need to get a list of ingredients and then I think the best possible place to find them at this time of night is at Hogwarts. Can you go there and fetch them?" He handed the paper to his friend.

Ron nodded. "I'll go now."

His mother came in at that moment with a plate of sandwiches. "I'm coming with you, Ron." He started to disagree and then nodded. The look they gave each other spoke of their acceptance of each other as equals.

Harry was left in the room alone, wondering what his next move might be.

…

Remus and Ron returned about the same time. Remus walked in his cloak covering the body of the woman. He laid her gently on the sofa.

"We've got Daniel," Harry said immediately. Remus looked surprised. "Ron found him and he's gone to get the things we need for an antidote."

"He knows about his mother?" Remus asked gently arranging the cloak that covered her face.

Harry nodded.

At that moment Ron entered.

"Where's your mum?' Harry asked.

"She's stayed behind to talk to McGonagal," Ron said handing him a basket.

"Mr. Weasley," a deep heavy voice said. They turned. Snape was standing leaning in the door of the bedroom, one hand on Daniel's shoulder to steady himself. Hermione was behind him looking worried. "Thank you for finding Daniel." It was clear he was ready to collapse and was barely managing to stand erect.

Ron gulped and nodded. He'd never received a compliment or even a comment from Snape which hadn't been cruel or ugly.

Snape looked down at Daniel. "Should we do this together?" he asked the boy. Daniel nodded, his face flushed red with tears. They walked to the sofa and Daniel pulled back the cloak. Snape dropped to one knee with great difficulty. Daniel didn't cry, but Harry could hear Hermione trying to stifle her sobs and there were tears in Remus' and Ron's eyes. He wondered if his own were wet with tears, the last time was recently when he stood over Dumbledore's body.

He was tired of weeping.

Snape had one arm around Daniel and he waited until the boy had a chance to gather himself and touch his mother. Daniel reached for her hand and then looked up at his father. "Did she suffer?" he asked.

Snape shook his head and drew the cloth back over her before attempting to rise. When he couldn't, both Harry and Remus reached and pulled him to his feet.

"Should you be out of bed, Severus?' Remus said. "It's time to put you back so we can brew a potion. Ron's brought the ingredients for the antidote and Hermione can brew it in your room."

"Yes," Snape moaned. He started for the door and then turned. "Daniel stays with me." The boy rose to his feet and rushed to his side.

Harry watched as Hermione made preparations. Snape had given her the potions book and was watching her every movement. With very little guidance she began to prepare the solution. Neither spoke and yet there was something between them. Harry waited to see if Snape would chide Hermione or act cruelly towards her and then realized that Snape was acting differently. He was looking at her with something like respect and Harry decided that the past twenty four hours had changed them both dramatically.

Remus joined Harry at the door and they moved away to talk. "What now do you think?" Remus asked. "Morilla has a Horcrux, Obviously neither she or Voldemort managed to get hold of Daniel. Do you have any idea who killed Georgia Mason, Harry?" he rubbed a hand over his tired face. "And why? She would have been worth more to someone alive, I would have thought."

"No Remus, I don't. I couldn't get a look under their hood before they disapparated." Harry sat at the kitchen table an withdrew his wand and waved it to sit two teacups before them. The new day was dawning and light was piercing the darkness of the night. He was exhausted and knew everyone else was too. He looked at his friend. "We don't have a chance do we Remus?"

Remus stared back and smiled. "It looks bad, Harry. But I always believed hope is our best weapon. I have to admit sometimes it's the hardest weapon to come by." The man returned to staring into his teacup. Ron joined them.

Ron held a vial in his hands and in the other he held a pair of glasses similar to the ones Harry wore.

"Ron?"

"Remus, Hermione found this in Snape's vaults when she went to Gringott's. There were a dozen vaults and each held something different. She was interested in the one that held the potions. This was labeled as a cure for lycanthropy." He sat the eyeglasses on the table and turned to Harry. "Fred and George were trying to find a way us to travel around without using brooms or the floo network or anything else the ministry anyone else could track. Something a spell couldn't prevent, like apparation. So they invented this."

Harry looked at the glasses. "Eyeglasses."

Ron shook his head. "Portable, controllable portkey. Notice Harry, I've been carrying it around. It only transports you when you activate it. And you set the destination."

Remus and Harry sat looking at Ron in stunned silence.


End file.
